Will I Win?
“I have never met a lawyer who thought that they could tell you, with any real certainty, the outcome of a given case. And, the longer a lawyer practices, the more they appreciate how true that is. I will offer an initial assessment of your case and will constantly re-assess your case as more facts are learned. However, ultimately, I think that the best a lawyer can do is to tell you what should happen under a given set of facts when the law is reasonably well established. But human nature being what it is, things sometimes don't play out in court as expected. This is a bit like predicting the weather: You gather all of the data you can, you research every issue and then you make your best informed forecast. Like the weatherman with all of his satellites and computers, the most we can do is to offer our best informed forecast; we cannot guarantee the result”
How Much Will My Case Cost?
“Unfortunately, no one can predict that either. Think of asking a builder how much it will cost to build the house you want without the builder knowing where, how big or what kind. And, understand that your lawyer can only control your side of the case; he or she cannot control the opposing attorney nor make them behave reasonably or rationally.”
Can I Recover My Attorney’s Fees?
“Yes, if there is a statute or a contract that gives you the right to recover your attorney’s fees from the other side. But there is no right to attorney’s fees without a controlling statute or contract. And, in the usual case, there is no right to attorney’s fees if you settle."
How Long Will My Case Take?
“Up until the financial crisis that started in 2008, most cases were resolved within about 14 to 18 months (assuming that no one appealed from the trial court’s decision.) However, the State’s courts have lost $1 billion in funding over the last five years, leading to massive layoffs of court personnel and the closure of entire courthouses. The time to trial, and even to hearings short of a trial, has been getting longer each year. For a variety of reasons, I do not believe that the Legislature will soon replace the money the courts have lost. That is why mediation and arbitration (discussed below) have become more viable alternatives to a court case.”
Can You Represent More Than One Client?
“Sometimes there are two or more beneficiaries, or trustees or business partners whose interests and objectives are so similar that they want to be represented by a single attorney. Obviously, doing so allows the clients to share the legal fees and avoids having multiple lawyers doing duplicate work. However, attorneys are bound by rules of ethics that limit their ability to represent multiple parties. These rules are fairly complex so there is no simple or single answer to whether one attorney can, ethically, represent more than one party. An in-depth analysis of the particulars of a given case is required to make that decision.”
Are You A Shark?
“I am when necessary. However, my first objective is to be as effective as possible and that is quite often the opposite of being a shark. Overly aggressive counsel rarely accomplish more than effective counsel do, but they usually do so at a much higher cost. It is always your decision to make, but it is always your money that is being spent.”
Are There Alternatives To Court?
“Yes, and they always should be considered. The two most common are mediation and arbitration.”
(See below, “What is Mediation?” and “What is arbitration?”)
(See below, “What is Mediation?” and “What is arbitration?”)
What Is Mediation?
“Mediation is a confidential process in which the parties select a third-party neutral, usually a lawyer or a retired judge, to assist them in resolving their disputes. The parties submit briefs to the Mediator and then all gather for negotiations. The Mediator cannot force anyone to settle and does not make any binding decisions. To aid the process, the discussions at mediation cannot be used in court. Mediation may be required by the terms of a statute or a contract or the parties may voluntarily agree to submit their dispute to mediation. Unless a statute or contract requires otherwise, Mediation can take place either before or after suit is filed.”
What is Arbitration?
“Like mediation, arbitration may be required by the terms of a statute or by a contract, or it can be voluntarily selected by the parties. Think of arbitration as a private lawsuit: The parties hire and pay their judge (the Arbitrator) and the dispute is handled outside of court so that the parties have some ability to create their own rules and procedures. In contrast to what happens in Mediation, an Arbitrator’s decision is binding and may be converted into a court judgment.”
