CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Perhaps, but if both sides are unhappy and think the mediator is clueless, but they've settled the case, he's done his job and most likely done it well.Zow said:
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The Lawyer Thread Where We Stop Ruining Other Threads (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Henry Ford
- Start date
Zow
Footballguy
Fair point. Was mainly referring to the idea that he speak to the client without counsel present. That's absurd.
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Zow
Footballguy
Positive note:
For the past two years I've been trying to convince CPS that a foster mother in one of my cases, where my client has done a total 180 of her life and I couldn't be more proud of her, has been lying and downright sabotaging the case. Yesterday, after two years of me arguing both in and outside of court to what felt like deaf ears and mainly looking like the "bad guy" to the rest of the courtroom actors involved, CPS has reached the conclusion I've been asserting all along, have removed the children from this particular foster home, and will be implementing a plan to return the child to my client.
Seriously considering buying a bottle of Dom tonight.
For the past two years I've been trying to convince CPS that a foster mother in one of my cases, where my client has done a total 180 of her life and I couldn't be more proud of her, has been lying and downright sabotaging the case. Yesterday, after two years of me arguing both in and outside of court to what felt like deaf ears and mainly looking like the "bad guy" to the rest of the courtroom actors involved, CPS has reached the conclusion I've been asserting all along, have removed the children from this particular foster home, and will be implementing a plan to return the child to my client.
Seriously considering buying a bottle of Dom tonight.
Henry Ford
Footballguy
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
Nice. Good guys win is always a good story. They don't happen as often as they should.
I was on the opposite end of a table from an attorney that has a massive federal case against a certain state CPS/DFYS - whatever they call it - because the foster family lost the kid. He's just gone. Just awful.
I was on the opposite end of a table from an attorney that has a massive federal case against a certain state CPS/DFYS - whatever they call it - because the foster family lost the kid. He's just gone. Just awful.
Zow
Footballguy
Zow
Footballguy
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Henry Ford
Footballguy
That's actually one of the few circumstances I can imagine worse than my DHS case.
Zow
Footballguy
I hear you. Dom is my firm's "thing" when something abnormally positive happens. One of the partners keeps a collection of of the empty bottles as a memorial of the occasion.
Zow
Footballguy
Yeah I couldn't even imagine the nightmare that would ensue if that happened on a case. I've had a few where the kids have tried to kill placement, bio parent try to run off with kid(s), etc. but it has always ended without total disaster.
T Bell
Footballguy
a/k/a "Legal research into statutory and case law re covenants not to compete, including limitations and legal exeptions. .9 hours"Henry Ford said:I might have found it by pasting "50-state survey on non-competes in an acquisition context" into google and clicking the first link.krista4 said:That's it! Thanks! Sorry, didn't click your links after you had said they weren't applicable.Yankee23Fan said:
I might have engaged in a bit of hyperbole initially. I need to find out something like this perhaps once every 5-7 years, so really I haven't given a #### about that book until I just remembered it. But you are right--thank you for finding this.Henry Ford said:
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
NCCommish
Footballguy
So trueI just got appointed on a new criminal case. Glanced through the standard court docs and on the release questionnaire, under occupation, the defendant listed "drug dealer".
The world can be a cruel place to the honest among us.
Henry Ford
Footballguy
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
(f-word, f-word, f-word, f-word)
I just found out a disability client had another massive medical issue. And meanwhile Social Security has made this poor girl go up the entire chain denying everything as they come and now I have to wait for a full hearing. About a year from now. Godmother*******dam***. This is one client where if I won the lottery I'm taking care of her and her family forever. I bleed for this family and this crap. I've seen morons who claim emotional issues get full disability and then work under the table and drive luxury cars and this single mom is just trying to take care of her kids.
If I could punch someone right now I would. ####.
I just found out a disability client had another massive medical issue. And meanwhile Social Security has made this poor girl go up the entire chain denying everything as they come and now I have to wait for a full hearing. About a year from now. Godmother*******dam***. This is one client where if I won the lottery I'm taking care of her and her family forever. I bleed for this family and this crap. I've seen morons who claim emotional issues get full disability and then work under the table and drive luxury cars and this single mom is just trying to take care of her kids.
If I could punch someone right now I would. ####.
NCCommish
Footballguy
Henry Ford
Footballguy
Sorry, man. Those are the worst. I hate it when the ones I care about get screwed over.
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
I know the cases I would categorize as a win and a loss, but since most cases settle it's subjective.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Back in the day, certain large firms were known to circulate monthly or even weekly billing numbers for associates to all firm members, just so everyone knew where they stood.
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
I'm not sure he means billables. He might mean "wins and losses."
Obviously, I think firms remember who gets results that clients are happy with and who doesn't. But I doubt they track who wins at trial versus who loses or even who secures higher or lower settlements. Because its tough to quantify how those outcomes are affected by good or bad lawyering. Some cases are dogs.
johnnycakes
Footballguy
Thorn
Footballguy
Yes. Disputed real estate commission. I was trying to reform the contract to bind the principal's corporation since only the principal as an individual was a party, but everyone labored as if the corporation was bound.
Thought I was winning all the way through (made the principal look like a fool on the stand), but then during closing, the judge had a bunch of questions for me about an issue NO ONE RAISED during the trial, so I knew I might be in trouble.
Weighing a motion for additional findings to set up a possible appeal.
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Zow
Footballguy
I know of some that do. I interviewed for a DUI defense firm that (in my opinion unethically) kept statistics for their attorneys and required a certain performance levels.
The first public defender's office I worked at kept some statistics on how quickly we moved cases and what percentage went to trial. But that was for purely budgetary reasons. As a group we had a friendly competition amongst attorneys where we kept track of jury trial wins and had a "golden gavel" that would get passed around the office, but that was purely for fun.
As others indicated above, keeping a "batting average" is incredibly difficult because defining a "win" is purely subjective. Sometimes a win is getting a great plea deal, beating the highest charge at trial (with the client being convicted of the lesser includes), getting evidence suppressed so that a trial never even happens, or simply taking the case to trial and putting on a sort of "slow" mitigation hearing to plant the seed in the judge to issue a sentence which "beats" the best plea offer made. Since, on paper, these aren't pure acquittals using actual acquittal numbers are somewhat meaningless. It's why the state bar frowns significantly on attorneys using statistics in advertisements.
Zow
Footballguy
It's a she. And so far she's only being charged with multiple counts of possession.I assume he's not being charged with... well, anything other than drug dealing?I just got appointed on a new criminal case. Glanced through the standard court docs and on the release questionnaire, under occupation, the defendant listed "drug dealer".
Thorn
Footballguy
Henry Ford
Footballguy
Wow.It's a she. And so far she's only being charged with multiple counts of possession.I assume he's not being charged with... well, anything other than drug dealing?I just got appointed on a new criminal case. Glanced through the standard court docs and on the release questionnaire, under occupation, the defendant listed "drug dealer".
Don Quixote
Footballguy
"Your honor, it does not say drug dealer. It says d rug dealer. She sells rugs."
Hours billed were considered pretty confidential information at my prior firm. I have no idea what the industry standard is on that front but coming from that environment into one that practices public shaming (despite otherwise being considered a "friendlier" big firm to work for) was a little jarring.
Thorn
Footballguy
Interesting. One of my gripes with my prior firm is they wouldn't even tell me my own numbers until the year was over. I always thought that was odd. Though maybe telling everyone all the numbers is too much the other way.
Henry Ford
Footballguy
You know when you're two years into a case and your client finally gets surgery because he's been waiting for insurance to clear it, and the surgery video shows the treating surgeon that it's clearly the result of long-term degradation of the soft tissue, and not the result of a single acute injury as you've been arguing for two years?
Yeah, I've never had that happen to me either.
Yeah, I've never had that happen to me either.
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
I think most firms will at least have a tool to show your utilization numbers on the firm intranet now. Showing everybody's numbers might be a bit odd, but I think it's helpful to know if your practice group is in a slowdown or if you're just not getting work. But that's the big firm washout speaking.
Yankee23Fan
Fair Tax!
lol. Sorry.
That's true too. But if you look around and everyone's billables are bad, that raises its own concerns about the health of the firm/practice group.
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Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
Henry Ford
Footballguy
I had to do something similar last month after a treater testified pre-surgery. The doc did as best he could to convey his optimism about what he thought he might find. But he wasn't very convincing and the other attorney asked me as we were walking to our car --is your client really going to opt for the surgery based upon that? He had a big smile on his face while he was asking.
T Bell
Footballguy
T Bell
Footballguy
Gee, how are they going to establish intent to distribute? Hmmm...Zow said:It's a she. And so far she's only being charged with multiple counts of possession.I assume he's not being charged with... well, anything other than drug dealing?I just got appointed on a new criminal case. Glanced through the standard court docs and on the release questionnaire, under occupation, the defendant listed "drug dealer".
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PatsWillWin
Footballguy
Zow
Footballguy
And then watch a jury laugh at me?Lawyer that #### up - "Phamaceutical Rep."I just got appointed on a new criminal case. Glanced through the standard court docs and on the release questionnaire, under occupation, the defendant listed "drug dealer".
gianmarco
Footballguy
Alright, lawyerguys:
Trying to build a home and getting this permit is turning into a PITA. I'll give a general timeline here with a summary below as I'd like to know how extensive this could end up being.
1.) Original Permit Submittal Date 6/23/14
2.) Comments from city sent to Engineer 7/9/14 (incorrectly instead of the contractor)
3.) Meeting with city to discuss revisions 7/23/14
4.) Revisions sent to city 7/25/14
5.) Phone call and email from contractor to city to request acknowledgement of receipt and initial feedback 8/1/14
6.) Phone call request update from contractor to city 8/5/14 - no response
7.) Email requesting updated from contractor to city 8/7/14 - no response
8.) Phone call requesting update from contractor to city 8/8/14- Spoke with city who indicated that he would have comments in "a day or two"
9.) Phone call requesting update from contractor to city 8/13/14 - no response
10.) Call from my lawyer to his friend who is the municipal judge for this city to give a "nudge" 8/14/14
11.) Phone call from city to contractor requesting materials be dropped off 8/18/14. Response in a couple days
12.) Email response from city to structural engineer (again, incorrectly) with "new comments" 8/21/14
So the entire plans were submitted back in June. They had a total of 5 comments, 3 of which were completely incorrect (i.e., the height of the house is above the limit when in fact it was not, not enough smoke alarms which there were). The main comment had to do with the back of the home exceeding total # of stories that could be visible. Building director drew out a sketch of a retaining wall that would be acceptable. My contractor goes back to engineer and architect, gets the plan resubmitted 2 days later (7/25 above). Yesterday, they finally responded (to the incorrect person again) and once again mentioned the height of the house (incorrectly), now that the building lines and setbacks are wrong because it's listed as the wrong zone (again, incorrect, which was pointed out and acknowledged) and not really any response to the retaining wall issue. Said he will try to meet with the architectural review board and get back in a couple days.
This dept is completely incompetent. My attorney is familiar with this dept and knows how they operate. He has requested to sit down and meet with them to get their attention and get things moving. However, during the last phone call to my contractor, the building inspector stated that "the interference with this project is not helping at all". He's concerned that, if we push too hard too early, they could make this incredibly difficult or may not grant a permit at all.
However, so far, their comments have either been completely wrong (height exceeded when it doesn't, wrong zone when it's not, and a few others) or have been addressed and submitted based on their own recommendations. If I have a sit down meeting with them and my attorney and they decide to make this difficult, what am I potentially looking at here in terms of time and money to get the permit taken care of? Apparently their normal turnaround time is 30-45 days and we are well past that as we aren't really any further than we were the first day we submitted the plans. As the current place we are building has a home that we need to demo, we still need to get a demo permit once this is done (another 3 weeks) and I'm paying a monthly mortgage on a property while waiting for them to push this through.
I'll hang up and listen.
Trying to build a home and getting this permit is turning into a PITA. I'll give a general timeline here with a summary below as I'd like to know how extensive this could end up being.
1.) Original Permit Submittal Date 6/23/14
2.) Comments from city sent to Engineer 7/9/14 (incorrectly instead of the contractor)
3.) Meeting with city to discuss revisions 7/23/14
4.) Revisions sent to city 7/25/14
5.) Phone call and email from contractor to city to request acknowledgement of receipt and initial feedback 8/1/14
6.) Phone call request update from contractor to city 8/5/14 - no response
7.) Email requesting updated from contractor to city 8/7/14 - no response
8.) Phone call requesting update from contractor to city 8/8/14- Spoke with city who indicated that he would have comments in "a day or two"
9.) Phone call requesting update from contractor to city 8/13/14 - no response
10.) Call from my lawyer to his friend who is the municipal judge for this city to give a "nudge" 8/14/14
11.) Phone call from city to contractor requesting materials be dropped off 8/18/14. Response in a couple days
12.) Email response from city to structural engineer (again, incorrectly) with "new comments" 8/21/14
So the entire plans were submitted back in June. They had a total of 5 comments, 3 of which were completely incorrect (i.e., the height of the house is above the limit when in fact it was not, not enough smoke alarms which there were). The main comment had to do with the back of the home exceeding total # of stories that could be visible. Building director drew out a sketch of a retaining wall that would be acceptable. My contractor goes back to engineer and architect, gets the plan resubmitted 2 days later (7/25 above). Yesterday, they finally responded (to the incorrect person again) and once again mentioned the height of the house (incorrectly), now that the building lines and setbacks are wrong because it's listed as the wrong zone (again, incorrect, which was pointed out and acknowledged) and not really any response to the retaining wall issue. Said he will try to meet with the architectural review board and get back in a couple days.
This dept is completely incompetent. My attorney is familiar with this dept and knows how they operate. He has requested to sit down and meet with them to get their attention and get things moving. However, during the last phone call to my contractor, the building inspector stated that "the interference with this project is not helping at all". He's concerned that, if we push too hard too early, they could make this incredibly difficult or may not grant a permit at all.
However, so far, their comments have either been completely wrong (height exceeded when it doesn't, wrong zone when it's not, and a few others) or have been addressed and submitted based on their own recommendations. If I have a sit down meeting with them and my attorney and they decide to make this difficult, what am I potentially looking at here in terms of time and money to get the permit taken care of? Apparently their normal turnaround time is 30-45 days and we are well past that as we aren't really any further than we were the first day we submitted the plans. As the current place we are building has a home that we need to demo, we still need to get a demo permit once this is done (another 3 weeks) and I'm paying a monthly mortgage on a property while waiting for them to push this through.
I'll hang up and listen.
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