An hourly client recently surprised Blawgletter. After a strategy meeting that included several other people, an in-house lawyer remarked about our focus on the “economics” of the lawsuit — things like the cost of defense, the goals of the plaintiff, the advantages and disadvantages of joining issue at once, and the crucial importance of assessing
Federal Judge Explains How Civil Litigation Became a “Paper War”; Plus, Blawging as Marketing
Thanks largely to the leadership of Alistair Dawson, the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas last year commenced online publication of News for the Bar. The latest quarterly issue includes two items that Blawgletter finds entrancing — the first mainly because we wrote it and the second because in it a
Hourly Fee as Enemy — of Joy
According to the title of an article in the February 2008 edition of Litigation News Online, In-House Counsel Are Keeping Closer Tabs on Outside Lawyers. In the article, Associate Editor Kristine L. Roberts reports on a survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel:
In-house attorneys are imposing more requirements on outside counsel. For example,
Cindy Sheehan to Get New Protest Trial
Cindy Sheehan at the White House in 2006.
The D.C. Circuit today granted presidential scourge Cindy Sheehan a new trial on charges that she violated a National Park Service regulation in September 2005 by protesting on a White House sidewalk. As the court said:
We reverse and remand for a new trial . . .
Googling for Email: How to Search for and Find Email Addresses Using the Internet
Search engines can help you find email addresses.
People such as you and I — we who spend many happy hours preparing to try and occasionally trying business lawsuits — often find ourselves needing, of all things, the email addresses of other people.
Think about it. All but antediluvian lawyers, and pre-antediluvian clients, use
New Partners at Susman Godfrey L.L.P.
New SG partners in Los Angeles, Kathy Hoek and Steve Sklaver.
Blawgletter wishes congratulations to Kathryn P. Hoek and Steven G. Sklaver on their joining the ranks of partners in our firm, Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Both work principally in the Los Angeles office.
Ms. Hoek graduated from Yale Law School in 2001 and joined
Sixth Follows Fifth in Rejecting “Evident Partiality” Challenge to Arbitrator
Today the Sixth Circuit refused to vacate an arbitration award on the ground that a lawyer-arbitrator failed to disclose prior relationships with a lawyer representing one of the parties. The relationships consisted of serving as co-counsel twice and representing different plaintiffs in the same cases six times. "While we cannot say that such a relationship
Can Public Entities Hire Lawyers on a Contingent Fee Basis?
Local governments try to abate lead paint — using contingent fee lawyers.
Kimberley A. Kralowec noted last month in The UCL Practitioner that a California Court of Appeal panel will soon hear argument on a hot issue among opponents of contingent fees: Does the prospect of earning a contingent fee rob the lawyer who represents
How to Negotiate a Reverse Contingent Fee
D. Todd Smith — master blogger over at Texas Appellate Law Blog — commented a couple days ago on The Hourly Fee Must Die — Some More. He said:
I’m still trying to break free from the billable hour, with increasing success. From the plaintiff’s side, evaluating whether to accept a matter on a
Quotes of the Day: Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama
Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses yesterday. Each gave an acceptance speech. Blawgletter reproduces below the opening three paragraphs of each.
Mike Huckabee:
I wasn’t sure that I would ever be able to love a state as much as I love my home state of Arkansas.
But, tonight, I love Iowa a