Lawyer thread

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

  1. (Z)

    (Z) Well-Known Member
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    People who don’t understand how things are done where they are, are the worst.

    My little area is so much different than most of Alabama. Most defense lawyers understand that, realize they’re in a for a ride, and we get along great.

    Ever so often, some new associate from some big firm gets sent down here and thinks they’re in a typical conservative Alabama venue and just act appalled. Miserable dealing with them.
     
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  2. Sammy Meatballs

    Sammy Meatballs DeBoer on the Floor
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    Or people that don’t understand how the case type they’re handling works.

    negligent security used to be a very small group of lawyers in Georgia and everyone was on the same page. Now every idiot thinks they can do it and you end up with bad plaintiffs lawyers and bad defense lawyers just fucking everything up and making things way harder than they should be.
     
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  3. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
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    When I was on the defense side, it happened occasionally (rarely, actually) where we would be handling a pretty high exposure case and the carrier would bring in “national trial counsel” to take over for trial. I can’t think of a single one of them that was particularly impressive. And it always struck me as dumb that my old partner and I who had tried very high stakes cases many times with great results would suddenly be saddled with the law out of town guys who didn’t know shit about Florida law or the nuances of the venue. We never did get to actually try a case with them because they would inevitably settle, but goddamn was it a waste of time and resources.
     
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  4. Nug

    Nug MexicanNug
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    Agree for the most part. My first boss was, and I believe still is to a lesser extent, one of the trucking defense gurus across the nation. Serves as national Counsel for Swift Transportation and does exactly what you're talking about, but I've seen it yield good results.

    On the other hand, one of my friends from my firm in Seattle got a similar job in Pacar. He travels like 200 days/year flying all over the country overseeing trials - second-guesses and looks over the shoulder of local counsel. He's very smart, but also in his late 30s and I imagine some of the old heads despise this young guy coming to Iowa and questioning their tactics. But he also makes over $200K/year.
     
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  5. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
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    Florida Gators

    Was thinking about this with respect to the FTCA claim. I hope for the widow’s sake that there is no trial, but I’m not sure the government fully understands the medicine in the case. If they’re just going by what the surgeons have told them they’d chalk it up to a “unfortunate complications from surgery” scenario, where my experts are saying it wasn’t just the surgical technique but rather the dragging of their feet in taking him back to surgery before it was too late. Maybe they’ll become more reasonable after I skewer the surgeon at depo.
     
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  6. Gallant Knight

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    Lol definitely going to have to litigate this
     
  7. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
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    Shunarah just opened a South Florida office and the lawyer he found to start it sure is an interesting choice given the nature of that firm’s practice.
     
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  8. Name P. Redacted

    Name P. Redacted I have no money and I'm also gay
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    Someone is still mad he couldn’t get free medical counsel from the thread for his case.
     
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  9. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
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    We had this recommended for a summer trial. It was actually set to happen but now they have backed off. Insurer doesn’t want to pay this alleged ringer.
     
  10. Sean Connery

    Sean Connery I'll take Whore Ads for $200
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    Saw this guy’s billboards a lot on my drive to and from Louisiana a couple to weeks ago. Probably the 2nd most frequent ad behind Morris Bart on I-10 around and west of Mobile
     
  11. Sammy Meatballs

    Sammy Meatballs DeBoer on the Floor
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    I was very surprised he lured her away from her old firm.
     
  12. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
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    That part I was, let’s say, not surprising. It was the landing spot that has everyone scratching their heads.
     
  13. (Z)

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

    In what way?
     
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  14. Bricktop the white

    Bricktop the white Well-Known Member

    context pls
     
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  15. Gallant Knight

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    How much does someone like that spend on advertising every year? Thomas J Henry, one of the biggest advertising guys in Texas, apparently spends about $5m a year and he’s everywhere

    I wonder what the multiple is on something like that.
     
  16. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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    Shunnarah said in a 2019 interview that he was spending just short of $20 million on advertising, and I saw a LinkedIn post yesterday that his firm generated $300 million for clients, so let's say $100 million in revenue. If those numbers hold true I guess it's ~5 to 1.
     
  17. Gallant Knight

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    Wonder what his expenses are
     
  18. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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    It's my understanding that the lawyers are largely eat-what-you-kill and pay for a lot of the overhead out of their share, so there's not a ton of salaries in the overhead. "You want two paralegals? Fine, but you're paying for them."
     
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  19. Gallant Knight

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    Eat what you kill but without them generating any of the cases? Wonder how that works with who gets what cases
     
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  20. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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    He's basically running a call and advertising center that generates endless cases that he then "refers" to his own lawyers. The fee then goes in a pot and a portion goes to the lawyer, a portion goes to advertising/overhead, and a portion goes to Shunnarah.

    No idea how cases are assigned. Tegg probably knows more.
     
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  21. Sammy Meatballs

    Sammy Meatballs DeBoer on the Floor
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    there’s something to be said for being #1 on the depth chart for cases from someone who is going to spend a ton on advertising
     
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  22. Gallant Knight

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    Yeah if you’re getting a % of the fee and get assigned most / all of the high dollar cases that is probably a pretty good gig

    Thomas j adversities for $500k base + % of fees if you have a history of high dollar plaintiff verdicts. I think a handful of people have taken him up on that
     
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  23. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Think I just had some kind of new (to me) fraud attempt. Someone seems to have spoofed my phone number (and attached my name to the spoof, so when the call went through it listed my name) and called the guy in the firm's billing department who handles wire transfers. I had no incoming/outgoing calls at the time the call was placed. Fortunately, the guy wasn't at his desk to answer.
     
  24. electronic

    electronic It’s satire!
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    90% of the time it’s because it will save an exec’s job if they hire a big firm/name and get a nuclear judgment rather than if a smaller local firm does a better job but still comes back with a big number. Especially if the client is PE backed.

    If company gets popped and a NY PE guy asks why Dentons wasn’t involved, it’s a problem. If some big name was involved and loses a big verdict, nobody bats an eye.
     
  25. Gallant Knight

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    And most of the “litigators” at those big firms blow
     
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  26. Gallant Knight

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    Had a case where baker botts defended a party a few years ago and the only thing they did different from regular ass defense lawyers was send emails at like 1am
     
  27. electronic

    electronic It’s satire!
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    A lot of them are political/connection hires who have no business trying cases.
     
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  28. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
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    I’ll call it the cultural fit. That’s all I’ll say openly.
     
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  29. El Tiburon

    El Tiburon Well-Known Member
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    Florida Gators

    Like I said above, every firm has a different culture, even large advertising firms aren’t all the same politically/internally. Some people’s dispositions aren’t ideally suited to high volume work.
     
    #17379 El Tiburon, Jan 27, 2023
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023
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  30. Sammy Meatballs

    Sammy Meatballs DeBoer on the Floor
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    I can attest to this
     
  31. CF3234

    CF3234 Fan of: Bandwagons
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    #17381 CF3234, Jan 27, 2023
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023
  32. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    Bingo. It’s a fucking sweet gig for about 10 of his lawyers. Downstream, not so much.
     
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  33. (Z)

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

    Yep, has some incredible litigators that do the death/trucking cases.

    Then you get to the people who get handed that contested liability with soft tissue injuries case, and the quality, well it drops.
     
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  34. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    I spent all day playing defense lawyer on a mock trial focus group. I’m a nerd, but it was fun as fuck.
     
  35. Gallant Knight

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    Did they pay you
     
  36. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    It’s one of our cases. I’ll probably help try it.
     
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  37. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Did you track your billable hours
     
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  38. Stagger Lee

    Stagger Lee Crazy. Sexy. Cool.
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    When my wife was a 1L in law school, she did a summer clerkship for an attorney who was 96 years old. Part of the deal was she got to spend the summer living in his guest house. On her first day, he gave her his Rolex and made her sign a bailment agreement and told her if she had a good summer he may let her keep it.

    By the second night on the job, he was letting himself into the guest house to visit and try and convince her to stay in the main house with him. One night he walked in wearing nothing but his undershirt and a diaper. She moved out of the guest house within a week.

    After about two weeks on the job, he took her with him to an out-of-town trial lawyers convention. At the dinner, he was introducing her to everyone like she was his girlfriend. That night at the hotel he knocked on the door and propositioned her. She told him to fuck off. He forced his way in and insisted he wasn't leaving until he at least got a kiss. She shoved the old man to the ground and ran out. Got a hotel room at the airport and flew out on the first flight the next morning.

    When she didn't report to work on Monday, he terminated the clerkship, telling her it was very unprofessional to not show up for work without notice. He also demanded she return the Rolex immediately or he would sue her for breaching the bailment agreement. Good times.
     
  39. CF3234

    CF3234 Fan of: Bandwagons
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    That’s fucking wild
     
  40. bro

    bro Your Mother’s Favorite Shitposter
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    Lol what in the world
     
  41. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    are you a doctor? or a lawyer? or do you just follow me around from thread to thread?
     
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  42. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    I think his wife is a doctor.
     
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  43. herb.burdette

    herb.burdette Meet me at the corner of 8th and Worthington
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    Ohio State Buckeyes

    I pro hac’d into Wyoming today. I’m sure I’ll be treated fairly.
     
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  44. Sammy Meatballs

    Sammy Meatballs DeBoer on the Floor
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    I am having to track and recreate hours currently. First time in my life.

    I don’t know how anyone does this full time.
     
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  45. Brandon Chicken

    Brandon Chicken Chow Time
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    Without question the worst part of the job for me. I hate it.
     
  46. RJF-GUMP

    RJF-GUMP Daubert Qualified in Cooler Thermodynamics
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    I don’t track my time. But if you track time as a plaintiff and if you get into a fight over a fee for whatever reason or if you are asking for sanctions, you can prove your time which can be helpful.
     
  47. herb.burdette

    herb.burdette Meet me at the corner of 8th and Worthington
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    Ohio State Buckeyes

    That post is a .1
     
  48. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Far and away the worst part. Keeping time contemporaneously is exponentially less unpleasant than recreating time or waiting to do it all once a week or month
     
  49. (Z)

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

    I don’t do it full time, but idk, tracking time doesn’t bother me when we’re doing a defense file.

    I just have a notebook on my desk and record it there.
     
  50. wes tegg

    wes tegg I'm a Guy's guy, guys.
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    Doing it full time blows.