Lawyer thread

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by Jax Teller, Apr 8, 2015.

  1. (Z)

    (Z) Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideBoston Red Sox

    Generally contingency. Definitely farm it out.

    I've got a guy I use for every construction defect case we have. He's worth his weight in gold when it comes to adding value to case.
     
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  2. nativeson

    nativeson Well-Known Member
    Donor

    Most are contingency and attorneys carry all of the costs in SC. Number of experts can lead to unreal case costs. Associate co counsel to someone that does nothing but construction defect. the selection of experts is important and insurance issues/knowledge will be as important as the damage. Case law and statutes vary from state to state but likely turns into complex and drawn out litigation depending on the builder insurance carrier.
     
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  3. Gallant Knight

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    also taking a case where you know nothing about the area of law when you have like 100 active cases you're dealing with where you know you'll make money seems silly
     
  4. 941Gator

    941Gator TMB's resident beach bum
    Staff Donor
    Florida Gators

    agreed, unless taking any civil dispute in general is your area lol. Or maybe wanting to broaden area.
     
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  5. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    Atlanta BravesDenver BroncosChicago BlackhawksBirmingham LegionMississippi Rebels

    Like 1/10 of my caseload is construction defect cases; I spend more than 1/2 my time on them.
     
  6. Gallant Knight

    Donor
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    hopefully they pay well
     
  7. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    Yeah, they’re good billing with relatively high rates. I mostly represent residential general contractors, so I get to play plaintiff suing the subs, which can be fun.
     
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  8. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
    Donor

    What's the issue? Maybe I have something you can plagiarize from
     
  9. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
    Donor TMB OG

    Got $85k in a med mal case. Looks like it is going to settle though so get it all back. Now that I'm a business owner and its my money in it, gets pretty dicey!
     
  10. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    Roll the dicey
     
  11. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Florida Gators

    From a style standpoint, I've always been a "get to the point" type of deposition taker. I know most defense attorneys love to drag out depos for hours on end for the billing, but I try way too many cases in my practice and don't have time to dick around reviewing multiple 400-page transcripts full of garbage information that a jury will neither care about nor hear. Plus, in the event that you have to read one of these transcripts into evidence you'll wind up neutralizing any point you've made when it gets drowned out by hundreds of pages of bullshit (especially if your opposing counsel is anything like me, and cross-designates all of the garbage specifically to drown out any quality testimony).

    I made the preface to this point for context. I rarely take a deposition that lasts over a couple of hours (depending on complexity of the case, of course), and I typically complete expert depos within 2-3 hours. A couple of weeks ago, however, I take the deposition of the plaintiff's medical expert in a nursing home case and it goes for 4 hours. For me, that's extraordinarily long, and it was mostly because the guy was full of shit and didn't know the records. But he did commit to me that we covered all of his trial opinions. At the end of me questioning, plaintiff's counsel tells me he would like to adjourn because it was evening time and he had "at least" as many questions as I did for cross-examination. So when he says that I literally start laughing because I thought he was being sarcastic. It turns out, he was not being sarcastic at all.

    Yesterday, we re-convene for the completion of the expert depo and the plaintiff cross-examines his own expert for SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS! Roughly six of those hours involved opinions on issues he told me two weeks earlier he had no opinions about. Couple that with my relatively brief re-cross and the depo went eight hours. That's 12 fucking hours of deposition time total. Here's what makes zero fucking sense...they did not videotape the deposition, so it's not like they were perpetuating his testimony for trial. And part of my cross included getting the expert to commit that he was ready and available to appear live during this trial setting (it's specially set), so that if they read any portion of his testimony I would simply read that to the jury. I'm pretty sure I know why plaintiff's counsel did this -- hoping I would ask for a continuance due to the new opinions -- but the strategy makes little sense.

    I fucking hate this career sometimes.
     
  12. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
    Donor TMB OG

    ridiculous. when my clients are getting deposed i never ask them anything. very very rarely i will try to clear something up.
     
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  13. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Florida Gators

    No kidding. And when it comes to my own experts especially, I only cross-examine for two things: 1) if there are opinions I know he hasn't expressed just to put opposing counsel on notice; or 2) they fucked something up badly that I need to fix. If I have to cross my own expert for several hours, my case sucks.
     
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  14. Brandon Chicken

    Brandon Chicken Chow Time
    Donor

    Ever get up to north Alabama? Had a case with Termite Tom?
     
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  15. Tilly

    Tilly Souf Cack
    Donor TMB OG
    South Carolina Gamecocks

    My party/expert depositions normally last all day. Sometimes 2 days if it is a big or complex case.

    Wear them down with the tedious and get to the important stuff late in the day when they're drained.
     
  16. (Z)

    (Z) Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideBoston Red Sox

    Civil forfeiture. I think the Law/facts are on my side. Just got so much going on, it’s hard to stop getting interrupted and get it done.
     
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  17. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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  18. Gallant Knight

    Donor
    Arkansas RazorbacksHouston AstrosRice OwlsAston Villa

    does anyone know anything about landlord/tenant stuff? someone is asking my advice on what i'm sure is an easy question but i don't know the answer

    they purchased property in 12.18--tenant living there paid rent through january but sent notice letter to previous owner that she was moving out end of feb and everyone was cool with her moving out in febraury. she told new owner to use deposit as last months rent. previous owner has deposit and doesnt want to give it to new owner. today she calls new owner and said she not moving out because illnses and new owners dont want her there.

    what recourse do they have to get her out
     
  19. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    GD so much this. Had a very good Partner at my old firm tell me once--in defense litigation, there are lawyers and litigators. Lawyers practice law and do what is prudent and practical. Litigators don't really do much reasoning, but bill the absolute fuck out of any file (and justify it to the carrier), so they keep their job by generating enormous fees.

    Had one at my old firm that would take crazy unnecessary depositions in every case----every treating provider, every witness, EVERY officer that responded to the scene, no matter how much their testimony fucked us. The second we learn of someone's identity who's tangentially related to the case, we blind noticed their depo. His theory was "to lock in their testimony." On one hand I get it, but if their testimony is "your guy really fucked up," why do we want to "lock that in?" Me and him almost got in a screaming argument once when he kept noting physician's depositions, but I had to take them. The depositions were going terribly. I get back and ask him, "why the F are we proving plaintiff's case for him?" He didn't like that.
     
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  20. (Z)

    (Z) Well-Known Member
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    Alabama Crimson TideBoston Red Sox

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  21. Gallant Knight

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    If he’s settling every case he prob doesn’t give a f about helping the plaintiff
     
  22. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    Lol. That's kind of known as your old firm's M.O. Bill like hell and then settle at the last minute. I guess litigators don't try shit.
     
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  23. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
    Donor

    Maybe it opens another argument for you? If the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause applies to state action through the Fourteenth Amendment, maybe the seizure of assets where no crime is charged is necessarily "excessive" and therefore violates your client's Eighth Amendment rights. Might be worth a paragraph.
     
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  24. Gallant Knight

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    my favorite kind of defense lawyer.
     
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  25. ARCO

    ARCO I wish I wasn't wearing this fucking shirt
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    Check out your state's FED (forcible entry and detainer) process. They tend to be pretty straightforward and I usually have one or two active for landlords I represent at any time in Colorado. It's mostly a basic posting of a notice to quit (for various items including nonpayment of rent, violation of a lease covenant, or termination of a periodic tenancy) a quick and simple complaint with a return date two weeks after service, and either a default judgment for possession and costs, or if the tenant answers a short 30 minute evidentiary hearing set about a week out. It's typically very straightforward.
     
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  26. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    Have a deposition with one plaintiff suing three defendants for three separate accidents (in WA, you can bring multiple accidents in one lawsuit). Lots of stuff.

    Lady that noted the deposition is a mid-40s career paralegal that passed the bar last year. This is absolutely fucking brutal.

    We spent 15 minutes on instructions, now slogging through his background. Fucking shoot me.
     
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  27. Gallant Knight

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    Why would they want three accidents in one case? Isn’t that a huge causation issue?
     
  28. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    Yes. It's fucking stupid.

    Theoretically, the burden is on the Pltf to delineate which injuries are caused by each accident. In practice, that's never the case.
     
  29. Gallant Knight

    Donor
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    Can defense consolidate plaintiff cases with different dates of injury? That would suck ass
     
  30. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    I have never seen it done. It's very common to see Plaintiffs file suit alleging multiple incidents with multiple defendants.
     
  31. Gallant Knight

    Donor
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    ....what is the strategy? That makes zero sense to me
     
  32. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    I was just as surprised and confused as you when I first read a Complaint alleging multiple incidents. I guess it's just to resolve everything at once rather than piecemeal; which seems to be against plaintiffs' financial interest.
     
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  33. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Are these car wrecks?

    Who has that many accidents?
     
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  34. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    He has 6 accidents in a 2 year period.

    Spoiler alert -- none are his fault.
     
  35. Gallant Knight

    Donor
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    i've probably had ~30 cases where someone is treating for an accident and then gets in another one. and have had at least 50 repeat clients.

    seems like some people are magnets for this type of stuff
     
  36. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    Yea, that's definitely it. :meh:
     
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  37. Gallant Knight

    Donor
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    without them you dont have a job.
     
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  38. 941Gator

    941Gator TMB's resident beach bum
    Staff Donor
    Florida Gators

    my office as well see’s these rare repeat magnet clients
     
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  39. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideSeattle MarinersAtlanta BravesNew Orleans Saints

    Not disputing that, but let's call a spade a spade
     
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  40. Gallant Knight

    Donor
    Arkansas RazorbacksHouston AstrosRice OwlsAston Villa

    I fight for justice
     
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  41. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
    Staff Donor
    Atlanta BravesDenver BroncosChicago BlackhawksBirmingham LegionMississippi Rebels

    I have a client whose last name is Justice.
     
  42. Gallant Knight

    Donor
    Arkansas RazorbacksHouston AstrosRice OwlsAston Villa

    Let me know if he needs a safety lawyer in the future
     
  43. Gallant Knight

    Donor
    Arkansas RazorbacksHouston AstrosRice OwlsAston Villa

    the amount of people who get pissed off/dont understand why they cant personally talk to me the second they call is starting to piss me off. yes i know i signed up your case with you last week and that my staff is telilng you that geico wont accept liability for the police report--if you talk to me i'm just going to tell you the exact same thing.

    going to be fun during out 10-15 trials coming up this year
     
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  44. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
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    The lead District Attorney in our courtroom has the last name Justus
     
  45. AHebrewToo

    AHebrewToo Albino Hebrew Extraordinaire
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    Just skimming this thread makes me so grateful I am a transactional attorney. Although given how little I understand about what you guys' day to day is like, sometimes I think I should just call myself a transactional consultant and lose the attorney designation. It's like we have completely different professions.
     
  46. Bo Pelinis

    Donor TMB OG
    Nebraska CornhuskersKansas City RoyalsKansas City ChiefsBig 8 Conference

    I started out litigation heavy and have transitioned to more transactional and management work over time. I am really happy that I have the litigation experience now but am also happy I don't do much litigation personally anymore. Nice to have that context for things but the day to day deadline management can be a real grind that I don't miss.
     
  47. 941Gator

    941Gator TMB's resident beach bum
    Staff Donor
    Florida Gators

    It can’t get to you. You can’t be pissed. That is not part of the model. How is your staff relaying the messages to you? Like exactly how...
     
  48. (Z)

    (Z) Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson TideBoston Red Sox

    Went ahead and did this. Didn't delve into it majorly, if for no other reason I was already over 60 pages (this thing was a nightmare) but thought it was worth touching on.
     
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  49. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
    Staff Donor
    Atlanta BravesDenver BroncosChicago BlackhawksBirmingham LegionMississippi Rebels

    State court judge fixin to be like
    [​IMG]
     
  50. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
    Donor

    Yeah I don't really know anything about civil asset forfeiture law, but the facts of your case scream constitutional violations. I'd throw every constitutional argument against the wall even if it doesn't quite fit.
     
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