Featured photography by George Becker
Anyone who is a member of Precocious Life family knows two things about us – Content & Value.
This is who we are and most of you also know that we practice international law although we do not advertise this on our Precocious Life© site. Still, we receive so much communication from the legal site from various Lawyers around the world who write regularly and who also are motivated to share and inspire helpful hints rather than to ‘advertise’ their Firm or themselves.
Frank Ramos is just such one of these rare exceptional ones who is always distributing helpful hints, stories and sound Legal guidance for the younger generation of attorneys out there who are in desperate need of ‘mentoring’; in short Frank is one of our “Precocious Favorites” so we wanted to give our Precocious Life members his interesting and outstanding views on various topics that face our legal world today.
Frank is a well respected Attorney & Partner in the Law firm of Clarke Silverglate in Miami. So whether you are a seasoned veteran of our world of Jurisprudence or just starting out it is our Pleasure to share Franks truly interesting, inspirational, informative and ‘Precocious Legal Tip of the Week’ with you.
“DEFINING A WIN IN LITIGATION” BY FRANK RAMOS, GUEST AUTHOR PRECOCIOUS LIFE©
The following statement may come as a surprise from a trial lawyer but I hate lawsuits. Corporate America asks our firm to represent them when they are sued in commercial, employment, and personal injury matters. Some cases have merit. Some don’t. But as a whole and after all considered I find them terribly ineffective to resolve disputes. They are time-consuming. They are expensive. They are confrontational. Personalities and egos get in the way. Misunderstandings devolve into nasty e-mails and even a nastier motion practice. I’m a cost center to my clients. I don’t make them money. I only cost them money.
So What’s the Answer? Is there an Alternative?
Short Answer – Yes, there is but first let’s go back and start at the beginning.And so the best thing I can do for them, the best any of us lawyers can do for our clients, is to FIRST sit down with them at the beginning of the case and discuss how they define a “win” given the facts of their case. Spending a lot of money to take the case to trial and get a defense verdict doesn’t much sound like a win when you consider all of the variables of spent resources, employees away from work and hanging around the Courthouse, experts, witness preparation, reversible error checklists, depositions (whew! I’m getting exhausted already), exhibits, video or live stream layouts (It is the tech age ya know) and anxiety (yes! Anxiety).
Spending a lot of money to settle the case upfront to avoid any and all litigation costs doesn’t sound like a win either. But in every case, no matter how daunting we lawyers can yet make a bad situation better, sometimes only slightly, sometimes markedly so. There are cases that can be resolved for little or nothing quickly. There are cases that will drag on despite our best efforts. But every case has a resolution and explaining to the client what that resolution is and the cost associated with it is one of our most important jobs as attorneys.
By understanding our clients’ needs and concerns, we can define the endpoint with them. As Stephen Covey says, “start with the end in mind“. Based on the facts and the law, what do they consider a favorable resolution? Maybe it’s quick and confidential. Maybe they’re engaging in the fight to ward off other future spurious claims.
So, as an Attorney, here’s where you are invaluable – They need you to help define true and real expectations, goals and an action plan to achieve them. To do so, you, as counsel, have to do an early case evaluation so here is a quick checklist to help you do this:
Identifying the key facts – Reviewing the relevant documents – Researching the relevant law – Doing due diligence on the opposing counsel and the presiding judge – Preparing a case budget – Evaluating likelihood (%) of success at various stages of litigation
An early and honest assessment of the case provided through the prism of ‘legal wisdom’ and compared to your the client’s wants, needs and risk assessment will indeed provide the guidance the client needs to make the decision on how they desire to proceed. *Working with the client to define a win empowers the client to take control of the case and direct its trajectory.
A client can always win as long it’s a reasonable win. We can’t always promise the client complete and utter victory. But transforming total defeat to a limited defeat can also be a win. There’s always a way to make a bad situation better. Do that, and your client has a win on their hands.
Follow Frank Ramos here on Precocious Life© or you can contact him at: framos@cspalaw.com