A blog about the work lawyers do to win commercial disputes by Will Newman
A defendant may be additionally concerned that someone may argue that the plaintiff’s allegations must be true since it agreed to pay money because of them. This is why many settlement agreements contain a statement that the defendant is not admitting liability, but is only settling with the plaintiff to avoid further litigation.
Read MoreIsrael does not have much evidence exchange before trial. The only requirement is that parties to a dispute are obliged to forward relevant documents to their counterparty. Then, after the last pretrial hearing, the judge usually orders the parties to file their evidence with the court by sworn affidavits.
Read MoreAccording to an old adage, in cross examination the lawyer is the star, but in direct examination, the witness is the star. And so lawyers often draft questions so that the questions are short but the answers are long. Not only does this allow the judge or jury to focus more on the witness with firsthand knowledge than on the lawyer, but it also complies with a rule against “leading questions.”
Read MoreNew York courts generally dismiss cases when the parties have agreed to arbitrate their disputes. But an exception may exist where the parties have litigated their dispute in court for awhile and then one party belatedly invokes an arbitration agreement.
Read MoreCommercial dispute plaintiffs in the United States often get to decide whether to have their claims decided at trial by judge or by a jury. Plaintiffs often select juries, because juries may be sympathetic to their claims. But there are also compelling reasons for a plaintiff to have a “bench trial,” in which the judge decides the facts of a case.
Read MoreAlthough mediation is generally considered to be less expensive than litigation, this assumes that the mediation is successful. An unsuccessful mediation can be pretty costly and then fail to save any litigation costs. Mediation can be expensive because the parties often need to pay for the mediator’s time in reviewing the mediation statements, preparing for the mediation, and attending the mediation. And parties also need to pay for the costs of their attorneys to draft the mediation statements, and prepare and attend the mediation.
Read MoreLawyers also need to make sure that documents are coded for privilege and redacted, even if the documents are not responsive to a document request. This is because a document may be produced because it is the family member of (attached to or embedded in) another document that is responsive to a document request and is thus subject to production.
Read MoreEach of the seven emirates maintain the right to choose either to participate in the Federal Judiciary or to maintain its own local judicial system. The emirates of Sharjah, Ajman Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain follow the federal judicial system.
Read MoreA major issue that I see frequently is the confusion between contract claims and fraud claims. It is normal for a party to a breach of contract action to feel defrauded when another party does not perform. But New York courts generally dismiss fraud claims when they arise out of a broken promise of future conduct instead of a false statement of present fact.
Read MoreInterrogatories may also be useful to define what an adversary’s claims or defenses are. To that end, a party may ask an opponent to identify each fact that supports its claims or each instance of misconduct that it alleges. Although a party may be able to ask the same questions to a party at a deposition, an interrogatory is more likely to get a useful response and less likely to get an “I don’t know offhand” or some other incomplete answer.
Read MoreOften, parties will make compromises in discovery to avoid the expense and uncertainty of going to court. For example, if a party believes it is entitled to all of a company’s financial records and the recipient believes it is entitled to none, the two may compromise and the recipient may agree to produce some specific financial records.
Read MoreIf there are disputed technical issues in a lawsuit in Brazil, the parties may ask the judge to appoint an expert. In that case, the parties write questions to this expert, who prepares a report giving his opinion on the matter and answering the parties’ questions.
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