Yeah I saw that. We have not been in the loop on recent settlement discussions (for obvious reasons) so I’m just not sure where things are.
sounds like we might have a trial next week or the week after in a kroger slip and fall case where i'm stunned we werent thrown out on msj. the defense lawyer has tried 400-500 cases to verdict. that should not be very fun
Finally had my first deposition where opposing counsel abused Zoom to help his client. It "froze" three times in the first thirty minutes of the deposition. When they would come back after the break, the witness magically had something different to say about what we were discussing. I called it off and said we are doing it in person.
Employment guys…. this is from a relative of mine. Any thoughts? I am seeking legal advice on how to word a letter to my employer regarding ongoing medical issues. I have recently been diagnosed with epilepsy due to side effects from having brain surgery last year. My neurologist recommended that I receive legal advice (American Disability Act) to provide this information to my HR department in order to protect my job as I have been having side effects from daily seizures for the past few months. I do not want to provide too much incriminating information to my employer, however I do need advice on how to word this letter in a way where I will be protected. At this point, I have not been able to control the seizures as this can take some time to find the right medications that will work for me. I have been worried about my performance at work because of the side effects from these seizures. If there is anyway that you can help me with this It would be massively appreciated!
We had an officer absolutely on the ropes, which he knew prior to Depo. He did Zoom from his phone and prefaced that he didn’t have very good service and eventually hung up, however I could see the Sheriff’s Office in the background so he most likely had service or at least WiFi available.
This thread seems like as good of a place as any. My office chair is on its last legs. I've always just used whatever chair is available to me where I am working, but I'd like to get something that is not 10+ years old for once. Anyone have reccomendations? I don't really care about it having a certain look. My #1 priority is that it is comfy as hell.
Steelcase Leap v2 is what I use. It's really damn comfortable and has a bunch of different adjustments. It doesn't look like much, but they're built like tanks. When you sit on one, you can tell a difference vs. a normal office chair. I used to feel like shit sitting all day, and it makes me feel a little less shitty. I've also been eyeballing an adjustable desk so I can work while standing. Only time I get to stand is during phone calls so I'm still sitting like 10+ hours a day.
Show up early on a Sunday morning, take the chair from the office next to you, then pretend like you know nothing about it if questioned.
The chairs don’t match in my office. Managing partner is a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to office supplies/furniture. I’m 99% sure he stole each office chair from other offices in the building that moved out and left stuff behind.
I've been filing a lot of lawsuits and sending out a lot of pre suit notice of claims (med mal) lately. These were all in the last 2 weeks. Used steri strips on patient when it was known they were allergic to them Pumped fluid into patient through IV when they weren't in the vein, caused compartment syndrome, required surgery and ongoing neuropathy Wrongful death MVA, commercial defendant Premises liability v McDonalds-offer was terrible MVA-they denied liability I have the whole thing on camera and liability is clear
Frustrating deal supposed to be closing tomorrow. Signature pages delivered early this week “in escrow.” Today, counterparty counsel starts sending out documents with “dates filled in” and omitting redline. Upon redlining, I learn that some revisions amount to material changes to obligations. Tell the client and send them the redline. While waiting for client input, counterparty counsel sends out a batch of documents to entire deal distribution list with “final, executed” versions “to be held in escrow.” I email OC and (trying to be a “lawyer’s lawyer”) instead of putting her on blast for what I see as a major faux pas that could arguably be nefarious, i copy her boss, my boss, GC at my client, and another colleague, pointing out that we haven’t approved final documents and pointing to the material changes as a reason why. She sends a smarmy response acknowledging that she just made some shit up and thought it’d slip by. I really want to email the entire distribution list and put her on blast but I don’t want to be that guy. Deal almost died at 4pm today, so it’s already on thin ice. But man, fuck lawyers
I'm not sure if this is good advice or not as I'm in a mood and a bit tipsy but I'd say fuck it and put her on blast. No need to go balls to the wall but make the situation clear. It would have been one thing had she responded with apology tones but being "smarmy" is some BS.
If they are concerned, they should just go to HR and speak to someone about a potential reasonable accommodation. No need to write a letter. Key question is whether your relative is a “qualified individual with a disability,” meaning can they perform the essential functions of job with or without a reasonable accommodation. Obviously that is a fact specific inquiry dependent upon the job and the disability. Their employer, assuming it is subject to the ADA, must engage in the interactive process with your relative in good faith to identify accommodations that would allow her to perform the essential functions of her position. They are prohibited by the ADA from retaliating against your relative for seeking an accommodation. Important to know they aren’t entitled to an accommodation of their choice, but only a “reasonable” accommodation that allows them to do the job.
We've been seeing some huge verdicts in relatively minor personal injury cases lately. Seeing some of these jabronis who are getting high 6 figure verdicts makes it pretty tempting to swap sides.
The dark side is SOOOOOO much better. Imagine never having to be up until 3 am on the 31st of the month filling out your billable hours ever again.
A local firm that's moved to the advertise and settle model has referred me three litigation files in the last two weeks. Hopefully this becomes a regular thing.
I think I have another PI case in Washington. Passenger involved in wreck. Basically, you're going to see me on billboards soon. Schwiggity Schwooty comin for that booty RJF-GUMP Gallant Knight I have done that zero times in a decade of practice.
ya, I mean, I am not a partner, but couldn't be me doing billing work at 3 AM at the end of the month.
I despised keeping time. There are a number of reasons I’d never go back to private practice defense work but that is at/near the top of the list.
This was my problem. I'd get to the office at 1:00 or later after bouncing around multiple court rooms all morning, then immediately need to jump into drafting some kind of response that was on fire the managing partner neglected, then whatever else got dumped on me. By the end of the day I'd touched 10+ different files and hadn't had a second of down time to document any of it.
I think the more important question is how many different files does he touch a day. When I was at my first firm out of law school, billing was easy as shit. I worked on 1 case all day every day the entire 4 years I was there. Billing took me 5 minutes at the end of every day. When I moved into first party property, I was touching 10+ files a day and 30+ a week. Billing took exponentially longer.
I never did work for any carrier who would let me bill 10 hours on a given file in one day unless I was in trial or traveling to a depo. Even then, many of them had a hard 10 hour cap for all files combined, with the trial exception. And just touching the file didn’t do shit. You had to generate some type of work product to justify the time. I had many a day where I would be in depo for 8 hours and had to figure out how the fuck I was going to bill an additional 5-6 hours so I could hit my goals.
I once did an in person witness depo in gainsville where the carrier required that I attend in person even though every other attorney appeared remotely. When I submitted my billing for that day of 10 hours, they chopped it down to the 30 minutes I was actually taking the depo.
And these are the reasons that “but just keep your time contemporaneously” is such a farce. I’m with you, I used to waste half of my weekends trying to “capture my time” for far too long. It’s great to not have to give a single fuck so long as your cases are progressing as they should.
Facts. I'll leave the practice of law before I take another job where I have to track my billable hours.
Speaking of carriers chopping down hours, auditing, and the general race to the hourly billing bottom that is insurance defense, it appears corporate interests are going to make inroads into the plaintiff's side with lower contingency fees: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legal...-morphs-into-personal-injury-firm-2022-06-27/
Defense lawyers totally understand what it’s like to talk with demanding and ridiculous clients all day PI lawyers:
i was ranting about this in one of my small firm lawyer groups on FB. The massive oversupply of lawyers due to the ABA's willingness to accredit any fucking scam school has lead to horrible consequences and a massively unfair distribution of wealth in the profession. I already have to compete against huge billboard firms, but now i have to compete against venture capital backed national billboard firm taking advantage of the huge oversupply of lawyers to drive down wages even further. It's looking grim out there for everybody.
That article is a crock of shit and it’s obvious the Schwadron guy basically paid for a fluff piece to be written. His explanation for “driving up medical costs” on cases as being bad for plaintiffs is fucking dumb, and he completely avoids talking about post settlement negotiations with providers and lienholders to drive down costs. Not to mention the inherent conflicts of interest involved in his company managing seemingly every aspect of the case, such that shaving a few percentage points off the contingency fee doesn’t matter if they’re recouping those costs by using vendors they own to provide ancillary services.
County court judges that schedule 150+ cases for CMC all at the same time should be removed from the bench immediately.