A blog about the work lawyers do to win commercial disputes by Will Newman
As English French and Creole are all national languages of Seychelles, legal proceedings could include any one of them. However, English is the language used in court. So if a witness speaks Creole or French, they will be provided an English-language interpreter for the court record.
Read MorePeople are understandably upset when others say false things about them, and they may consider defamation litigation. When false statements arise in a public process, such as in city records or in court, the lies may do more damage than they would have in a less official forum. The subject of those statements may therefore feel a greater desire to sue. But common-interest privilege protects certain types of statements.
Read MorePeople often craft a direct examination as if it were just a script on a page. They forget that these questions and answers are a conversation in a courtroom. As a result, those direct examinations sound awkward, repetitive, dull. Better lawyers picture how the examination will play out in court.
Read MoreOften, construction projects run over budget and there are shortfalls. At the scale of a large project, these shortfalls can be huge, leading a development company created for that project to declare bankruptcy. In those cases, litigation helps assign blame. The court can determine where the funds will come from to get people paid while attempting to put the property into the hands of someone who can afford to finish developing it.
Read MoreAlthough mediation is generally considered to be less expensive than a full trial, this assumes the mediation is successful. An unsuccessful mediation can be costly and still fail to save any litigation costs. In a mediation, the parties pay for the mediator’s time in reviewing statements, preparing for the mediation, and attending it. Parties also need to calculate their own lost time and pay for the costs of their attorneys to draft the mediation statements and attend the mediation. Accordingly, for litigants on a budget, mediation has definite costs but uncertain benefits.
Read MoreLithuania’s private law has been a mixture of rules from Germany, France, and Netherlands. In 2004 when Lithuania joined the EU, they not only adopted the regulations that apply to all member states, but they amended other national laws to align with European principles. Today, Lithuanian commercial law is European and modern.
Read MoreWhen a court orders someone to appear for a deposition, the person must appear or get another court order to the contrary. The penalty for disobeying the order to appear, however, can vary. For witnesses who decline to appear, the penalty may be monetary. For parties to the lawsuit, the court may rule the person who failed to appear must lose, but that is not always the case.
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 usually choose juries because they may be more sympathetic to the plaintiff’s 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 MoreA landlord cannot simply kick out a tenant when she does not pay rent. Instead, there is a process to demand rent and, if need be, seek an eviction. But the tenant may be able to explain why she is not paying rent. Litigation may be how the parties ultimately resolve the dispute.
Read MoreLebanon has a first instance court, which is like a county court in the United States. After that, a party can appeal to an appeal court, an after that there is the Cassation court, which is derived from the French court system. That court only hears cases, though, when the appeals court judges disagree or when there was an error at the appeals court.
Read MoreIt is important for defendants in litigation to promptly respond to a complaint. If they do not, a plaintiff may obtain a default judgment against them. But courts still apply strict rules to plaintiffs seeking default judgments.
Read MoreLawyers need to make sure any potential documents are coded for privilege and redacted, even if the documents are not considered responsive to a document request. This is because a non-responsive document may be produced anyway if it is the family member of—attached to or embedded in—another document that is responsive to a request and thus subject to production.
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