Last week, something happened that had not happened in the past decade in my practice. A prospective client called with a case that was worth $100,000-$200,000. However, it was a slip and fall case and would likely have to go into suit and would resolve with a settlement in 2 years. The client had been through a difficult divorce and …
FOX NEWS / DOMINION
Well, that’s a damn shame. Case is settled for $700 million or so and an apology. My first thought is that I really, really hope that Dominion’s counsel had this on contingency, though I doubt that. Second, I was a bit concerned as to how a company was going to show 1.8 Billion in damages and get a jury to …
JUDICIAL ELECTIONS COMING UP
Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD. Jeremiah 6:15. I am not much for biblical quotations. But, this quote was on the wall of a church …
Your Water Is Dangerous, Whaaaaat?
Recently, I had not heard about the latex spill into the Delaware River and went to my local ACME and found that all the bottled water had been cleaned out. Except, of course, Aquafina which has a serious marketing problem. But that is a separate story. Anyway, here is what happened per the City of Philadelphia. A synthetic latex product …
Focus Groups
Over the course of a typical year, I will conduct a focus group on one or two cases. The cost is usually minimal in relation to the overall case value. The purpose of running a focus group is usually to evaluate specific case issues and get a feel for how an impartial jury feels on seeing your case on first …
Madoff/Tom Girardi in LA
I am always amazed at how some of the most notorious white collar thieves went astray. Girardi negotiated a $53-million settlement in 2013 for a young burn victim named Ruigomez, but told his parents the agreed amount was only about $7.2 million, according to the indictment. Bernie Madoff stole billions of dollars running a non-existent trading operation. Both of these …
The Standard of Care
The key question in these cases is what was the standard of care at the time of the alleged negligence. Unlike in law, where we have years of cases telling us what the general standards are, in medicine, there are few corollaries. If you are an OB-GYN, there is the American College of Gynecologists (ACOG) that outlines a lot of …
Post Pandemic Recovery
The Schuylkill Expressway is very busy Wednesday mornings. It seems that larger employers are forcing people back to work in the mid-week and employees are resisting that on Mondays and Fridays. As a result, 76 is back to being pretty packed with cars on Wednesdays. Office occupancy figures are still around 48% on the busiest days, which is still well …
Litigation Tactics: Should You Represent Your Business’ Former Employee?
Should you represent your business’ former employee? From the plaintiff’s perspective, I am always happiest to see a business’ former employee testifying at a deposition without counsel. I am also puzzled by the failure of a former employer to represent the witness. There are multiple reasons why a business may not want to represent a former employee including bad blood, …
What is the Prime Motivating Factor for Settlements of a Six-Figure Case?
In my experience, the prime motivating factor is that both sides do not know how a jury will decide the case and therefore neither wants to take the risk of a verdict for or against. Juries are very unpredictable in the mid-six figure cases. On smaller cases, juries may not care too much. On huge cases involving deaths or paralysis, …