A blog about the work lawyers do to win commercial disputes by Will Newman
Filtered by Category: Litigation
In many personal injury suits, the plaintiff - the person bringing the lawsuit - is the injured party. This is the person who has “standing” to bring the lawsuit. Some other person, a friend or relative, generally cannot sue for someone else’s injury.
Read MorePeople 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.
Read MoreAfter 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MorePart 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.
Read MoreFor 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.
Read MoreBecause 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreCompanies often compile spreadsheets or other documents that are helpful to better understand the facts of the case or to evaluate claims made by witnesses. I try to keep an eye out for documents like employee directories, monthly financial statements, and organization charts.
Read MoreThe basis for many securities fraud claims is a Securities and Exchange Commission rule called Rule 10b-5. That rule essentially prohibits anyone from lying in connection with securities. Often this is in connection with the sale and promotion of securities, but the rule also applies to statements made by a publicly traded company to the marketplace in general.
Read MoreThe deposition should start by following the script of questions that the lawyer prepared. But witnesses will frequently give unexpected answers. This is why I keep an eye on the transcript (I usually pay extra for the “Real Time” screen that lets me see the transcription of what was just said) and, if the answer leads to more questions or if the answer is unclear or unresponsive, I follow up until I get a clear answer.
Read MoreTemporary Restraining Orders frequently arise in disputes arising from the use of confidential material or intellectual property. This may be because it is difficult to quantify the damage arising from improper use of confidential material and so a money judgment may not properly compensate a plaintiff.
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