A blog about the work lawyers do to win commercial disputes by Will Newman
A Manhattan appellate court recently held that a sexual harassment plaintiff needs to disclose in discovery the application she submitted to stay in the United States through a visa program for the survivors of human trafficking. The court held that the plaintiff’s objection to producing the application did not specify any ground, and so it waived any objection “based on any ground other than privilege or palpable impropriety.”
Read MoreWhen a client tells a lawyer she wants to sue someone, she may not know all of the possible causes of action. She may just know that the defendant has done something wrong. It is up to the lawyer to use her own knowledge and research to determine what causes of action address the defendant’s conduct.
Read MoreThe most straightforward thing that people can seek in a lawsuit is money. If you allege in a lawsuit that a defendant caused you to lose a certain amount of money, or failed to live up to a promise to pay you a certain amount of money, you can seek a judgment that directs the defendant to pay you that money.
Read MoreLand matters are complex since a lot of the testimony comes from old people and some have a hard time traveling from other islands. Rules for intervention during a case are lax, so people will often show up midway through a case. Some land cases in Palau last literally decades.
Read MoreThe wheels of justice move more slowly than many people expect. Lawsuits, even ones where you are very much right and the other side are bad people, often take months or even years.
Read MoreTheoretically, China has the system of people’s jurors. In many cases, a tribunal of three members may be composed of one or two jurors. However, as of now, jurors really only sit to meet the quorum of a tribunal of three members. They will not actually decide any facts though they do have the power theoretically. Instead, the presiding judge will decide the facts.
Read MoreFew employers think they are guilty of racial or sexual discrimination when they fire someone. But even for employers that comply with the law, responding to a discrimination claim may still require depositions and legal argument. This is why employers should take proactive measures to ensure they avoid the risk of litigation and prepare themselves well if a dispute arises.
Read MoreUnder the “American Rule,” plaintiffs and defendants usually pay for their own lawyers, even after one of them prevails. This is why parties often settle cases: no one wants to spend more on legal fees than they recover or than the amount of a judgment they avoid. But in some situations, a prevailing litigant may recover their attorneys’ fees from their adversary.
Read MoreIn the body of a document request, an attorney will set forth numbered requests for documents. The number of requests may vary, but it is not uncommon for a document request to have fifty or more numbered requests. In my experience, some requests are broad and others are specific.
Read MoreIn commercial disputes, there is no prior questioning of witnesses and you must go to trial with the evidence you already have. This makes trial very difficult because some evidence cannot be obtained in advance, due to the data protection law.
Read MoreCompanies often compile spreadsheets or other documents that are helpful to better understand the facts of the case or to evaluate claims made by witnesses. I try to keep an eye out for documents like employee directories, monthly financial statements, and organization charts.
Read MoreLaw firms often use document management software to store documents. Instead of saving documents in a folder or a shared network drive, law firms often allow employees to save documents on a system in which each document gets a unique ID number. The system then allows any other user to access the document.
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