Steve Bannon was convicted of contempt. This is a pretty rare thing in my experience. Most often, contempt charges are used in criminal cases or very unusually in civil or national security cases. There is an old adage that a person charged with contempt holds the keys to their own jail cell. Contempt findings are usually used to force reporters …
DEPOSITIONS
Depositions are really the best way to get information in a civil case. There are interrogatories and other written responses that begin to tell me about a case, but they need to be explained by a live person. Further, most of my cases are not document dependent. Below is a link to a routine deposition I took in a motorcycle …
THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE GRIND SLOW BUT GRIND FINE
Sun Tzu gets some credit for this pithy insight as does someone named Sextus Empricus who wrote “The mills of the gods grind slowly but exceedingly fine.” What does this have to do with legal practice. Well, for starters, nothing moves quickly in personal injury law. That was true before the pandemic and is more true now. We live in …
RECESSION WATCH
The recession is coming, whether we like it or not. I am not an economist, but have been around long enough to see the signs. If the stock market is selling off, home prices are cooling, Amazon is laying people off, and layoffs are starting to creep into the news, one should be on recession watch. We have been …
PICKING THE CASE: What Makes A Medical Malpractice Case?
What Makes A Medical Malpractice Case? Damages, damages, damages. If you are calling me about your own medical malpractice case, then I am instantly concerned whether you have sufficient damages to pursue a case. Conversely, if someone else has to call for you or you died, you are more likely to have a case worth pursuing. Why? These are expensive …
“I play for money”- Joey Knish
In the epic poker film Rounders, Matt Damon plays the young flash in the pan superstar who wants to win it all. Joey Knish, Turturro’s character, is the classic poker grinder, who watches his money, makes good bets on good risks and doesn’t chase cars, ego etc. When Damon needs his help, Knish is there for him, but won’t lend …
Ch Ch Ch Changes
As David Bowie sang, “Time may change me, but I can’t trace time.” Many of us as lawyers get up every day and run our firms or work on our cases, trying our best to keep clients happy and the airplane flying while repairs are underway on the fuselage. There are always positive changes to be made. Always! And, with …
ALWAYS BE CLOSING: SIGNING UP NEW CASES OR CLOSING NEW BUSINESS
Does “always be closing” ring a bell? If not, you may not be a rainmaker! If not, watch the movie Glengarry Glenn Ross’ famous Alec Baldwin “ABC” or “coffee is for closers” scenes on YouTube. Why? It always lights a fire in the belly that there are others out there competing against you and you need to work to keep …
VALUE DESTRUCTION OR VALUE ADJUSTMENT IN PERSONAL INJURY
So, what reduces value? Well, prior accidents and gaps in treatment are the largest areas that reduce values in the eyes of the insurance carriers, who set the playing field in personal injury. If you had a prior car accident before the one you are my client for, then there will always be an argument that the injuries from this …
PICKING CASES: Take the Case? Refer it out? Turn it down?
Do you want the client’s case??? One of the critical pieces of personal injury law is Case Selection. It simply cannot be overstated how important this is. While you need a steady volume of cases to make case selection an issue, that is a separate topic. Case selection is simply the 80/20 rule or figuring out what is the best …