Comments on Recent Cases: May 2025

Parties in American litigation not only often have the power to conduct deposition interviews of the other parties; normally they can compel non-parties, too. But this power, however, is not unlimited.

More Thoughts on What People Get From Lawsuits

People often view the legal system as deciding what conduct is unacceptable. It provides consequences to people who do unacceptable things like breaching an agreement, stealing, and violence. But people may be unclear about what those consequences can be; the consequences may even be an afterthought. So I wrote a post about what a lawsuit can do to benefit the people who come to court to complain about someone else’s misconduct.

Specific Documents in New York State Court Litigation

After discovery, one party may file a statement with the court stating that the case is ready for trial. This document is a “Note of Issue.” And once the court has this document, it may schedule a trial and also set dates for the other events that need to take place in advance of a trial, such as a pretrial conference and the deadline for submissions of witness lists.

Litigation in Haiti

From the complaint to the judgment, the deadline can last up to three months if there aren’t any strikes. Often times it is the clerks who are on strike, other times it is the judges or bailiffs to claim salary adjustments (raises) or better working conditions.

Comments on Recent Cases: April 2025

Parties in litigation have very broad powers to ask questions and gain information about the other parties. This often includes information that is irrelevant to the case. But in some instances, courts will put limits on the subjects of inquiry in discovery.

More Thoughts on How Long Lawsuits Go On For

The wheels of justice move more slowly than many people expect. Lawsuits, even ones where you are very much right and the other side are bad people, often take months or even years.

Politics and Commercial Litigation

Part of why I rarely see the influence of politics in my work is because of stare decisis. In general, courts follow the rules set forth by appeals courts. And so judges have limited opportunities to carry out the bidding of powerful interests if doing so required making new law. To do so may require a case with no existing precedent, which may be rare, or a case that proceeds to appeal, which may also be relatively rare for many commercial cases, which often settle.

Litigation in Iceland

"Eðli máls" (the nature of the case) is a recognized source of law in Icelandic legal practice. It is used when there is no explicit statutory provision, precedent, custom, or other clear legal source that directly applies to a particular legal issue. When courts or legal professionals rely on "eðli máls," they base their decisions on reason, fairness, and general legal principles to determine a just and reasonable outcome.

Comments on Recent Cases: March 2025

Parties in litigation have very broad powers to ask questions and gain information about the other parties. This often includes information that is irrelevant to the case. But in some instances, courts will put limits on the subjects of inquiry in discovery.

More Thoughts on Litigation Expenses

For me, I often find the magic number to around $300,000 - disputes about a number below that amount, in many circumstances, are hard to make work economically.

Cryptocurrency Disputes

Because cryptocurrency litigation is relatively new, judges are not as familiar with it as they are with other kinds of business claims. Some are savvy, while others are skeptical. As a result, lawyers take great care to explain basic concepts in cryptocurrency to judges who may be new to the field so that the judges take the claims seriously instead of dismissing them because they seem strange or nonsensical.

Updated Thoughts on Document Requests

In the body of a document request, an attorney will set forth numbered requests for documents. The number of requests may vary, but it is not uncommon for a document request to have fifty or more numbered requests. In my experience, some requests are broad and others are specific.