Resolve It Now

Lawsuit Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Resolve It Now) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:47:00 +0000

DesMoinesRegister.com | Des Moines PluckPersona | The Des Moines Register

I agree with Joel Veldkamp's comments in "The lawsuit culture reaches an apex"
Here in modern America, the most prosperous, most luxurious, most physically secure, most individualistic society on earth, it has become commonplace to sue one another over minor slights and injuries – spilled coffee, trampoline accidents, defective grocery bags.

The statistics quoted in his blog are unfortunately a true result of our societies approach to conflict. We
all want our own way, which is probably not new to people at any time in
history. Our method of dealing with conflict is to attack others. Worse yet we
attack others using lawyers as hired guns and bog down our court system. The
net result is that we all collectively pay the piper to support our litigious
society.

There is another way. People in primitive past cultures
talked with one another. Yes, they experienced some discomfort talking about
the things that pushed their emotional buttons but then they were heard and found
a safe way to discuss their disputes. Today it may take a more formal setting
of mediation to give people the safe way to discuss and resolve their disputes.

I vote for peaceful confrontation of disputes, which clears
the air, and resolve the underlying dispute.

Lee

Is there a way out?

noreply@blogger.com (Resolve It Now) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:18:00 +0000

I have been observing a simple divorce for about 2 years now. Susan and her ex husband Joe have been divorced for about a year but continue to sue each other over control of their daughter even though both say they don't want to fight.

During the divorce it became obvious to them that they could not communicate or agree on anything. It is sad to watch them spend tens of thousands of dollars on their lawyers instead of their daughter. Neither of them can really afford the cost of continuing a court battle.

Can they solve their issues and end the fight?

Comment on "How to Make a Losing Argument"

noreply@blogger.com (Resolve It Now) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:59:00 +0000

The article "How to Make a Losing Argument" offers lessons to be learned for lawyers. But even when these lessons are learned, the advocacy legal system keeps lawyers and their clients at odds. Most often the argument becomes an end in itself, with the people who want resolution left waiting for the fireworks and legal bills to end.

Bombardments with troublesome motions are a normal part of attempting to settle a dispute with litigation. Attorneys are advocates, and they operate in the court of law with a set of complex rules which encourages them to fight (and sometimes fight dirty) on clients’ behalf. When the fight become the main focus, advocacy is wrong. And once a fight starts, no one knows what the outcome will be or how long it will take to get there.

In the advocacy system neither the resolution nor the time of ending is known. The end point will occur either when/if someone comes to a last minute agreement on the courtroom steps just before trial or after a judge makes a decision based on the complex rules which the lawyers and judge must live by. The fight is rarely about the needs of the principals involved. Most often it is about feeding a system that neither benefits nor is understood by the people involved.

Lawyers really do attempt to be reasonable, but once the fight starts in the legal advocacy process, it is hard for one to refrain from retaliating and adding to the pain of the principals. It is all too easy for one lawyer or the other to escalate the pain with a never ending legal battle that can rage for years before resolution is near.

Mediation is a valuable alternative that only cares about the objectives of the principals. The principals use their own sense of what is important to effectively determine the issues and the resolutions.

How to Make a Losing Argument | ABA Journal - Law News Now

noreply@blogger.com (Resolve It Now) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 15:22:00 +0000

How to Make a Losing Argument ABA Journal - Law News Now

E-Mail to Lawyer Not Privileged Because of Employer Policy | ABA Journal - Law News Now

noreply@blogger.com (Resolve It Now) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 15:19:00 +0000

E-Mail to Lawyer Not Privileged Because of Employer Policy ABA Journal - Law News Now