Conflict Resolution

Advanced Problem-Solving Strategies

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Litigation

Trials, part 2

Nov 27, 2014 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

Here I want to talk about the emotional component of trials: both the agony and the ecstasy involved in this climactic phase of litigation. These emotions are stirred up in part by the incredible amount of work that needs to get done in the days and weeks leading up to trial, days that are consumed with pre-trial briefs and motions, jury instructions, witness and exhibit lists, re-reading the documents, preparing witnesses, etc. Time and cost considerations seem to go out the window. Whenever I am getting ready for trial, I seem unable to think about anything else. I disappear from family and other obligations. 12 Angry Men It’s not only the massive amount of preparation that turns litigants and lawyers […]

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Mediation

LA Court Update

Sep 13, 2014 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

More than a year after closing most of the LA Superior Court’s ADR program, in conjunction with consolidating and closing courtrooms around the county and other cutbacks, how is the court faring? For all the predictions of disaster, it seems this court system is managing surprisingly well. The courts have been able to maintain most trial dates, in the administrators’ view probably the most important requirement for keeping the court processing its workload. Local rules have been modified to decrease the number of court appearances, especially in personal injury cases. Judges are figuring out how to muddle through with fewer staff positions, and parties are coping with a system that has significantly reduced their ability to interact with court personnel. […]

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Negotiation

Negotiation ethics

May 01, 2014 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

The California State Bar Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct has issued a proposed opinion attempting to draw the line between unethical misrepresentations during negotiations, and permissible “puffing.” Using this distinction, false statements about, as examples, the existence of favorable witnesses, or about the amount of a party’s earnings, or about policy limits, would all fall on the unethical side of the line, and would subject an attorney making them to potential discipline. On the other hand, false statements about a party’s “bottom line” of settlement authority, or about a party’s willingness to litigate or its plans to file bankruptcy, would be considered mere “puffing,” basically the kinds of lies that parties expect the other side to tell during […]

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Litigation

Payments

Mar 30, 2014 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

The problem with payment plans is that they are a nuisance to enforce. It seems that more often than not, the party that is supposed to make the payments at some point stops keeping up with its obligations, and the party to whom the payments are due has to take some action to get the payment plan back on track. Naturally, people at the time of entering into such arrangements usually want to avoid these problems. The debtor wants an agreement that they can perform, and the creditor wants the best enforcement tools available to make sure the payments are made. One common technique is to provide that in the event of default, judgment can be entered for an amount […]

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Litigation

Gloating

Mar 18, 2014 | by Joe Markowitz | 0 comment

A recent case from the Court of Appeal in Florida illustrates the perils of confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements, but something more as well. Patrick Snay brought an age discrimination suit against a private school that did not renew his contract as headmaster, and settled the case for $80,000 plus $60,000 in attorneys’ fees. (According to footnote 5 of the opinion, it appears the settlement was accomplished by mediation.) So far, so good. The settlement agreement contained a strict confidentiality clause prohibiting the plaintiff from disclosing, directly or indirectly, any information whatsoever about the existence or terms of the agreement to anyone except professional advisers. But Snay’s daughter, who was a student at the school, and apparently had also suffered […]

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