Sometimes plaintiffs’ lawyers feel like unwilling actors in a series of bad movie sequels. These sequels are typically directed by insurance adjusters or corporate counsel and incentivized by the almighty billable hour. Despite the predictability of the eventual outcome of certain cases, these sequels are forced upon plaintiffs’ lawyers as a means of maximizing the investment of funds that will eventually be paid out by the culpable party. Plaintiffs’ lawyers typically find themselves trapped in this “theatre of the absurd” with their best cases. These are the cases in which liability and damages are clear to both the plaintiff and defense attorney. These are the cases in which there exists clear precedent for the contested issues of fact and law that provide a well-defined framework in which the case will be decided. As a result, frivolous defenses are pleaded. Discovery disputes are manufactured. Document dumps are embraced. Depositions of useless witnesses linger on for hours. Daubert motions and motions for summary judgment are filed with absolutely no chance of success. Eleventh-hour pleas for continuances of trial dates are routine. Meritless appeals are filed. All of these moves are made simply as a means of perpetuating the plots of these bad movie sequels But the billable hour provides the opposite incentive. Hour after hour is spent delaying a predictable outcome. Sequel after sequel is litigated. The Home Alone phenomenon of the civil justice system rolls on. abovethelaw/2014/12/the-billable-hour-perpetuating-the-home-alone-phenomenon-of-the-civil-justice-system/
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 14:55:54 +0000
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