Tag Archive for: lawyers

Gifts for Every Lawyer

Know anyone who would benefit from better legal marketing with less stress? A lot of lawyers have great ideas about how to market their practice, but then they get busy and never follow through. The Lawyers Marketing Journal is a guided journal published by AttorneyAtWork.com that helps the user organize and actualize ideas while staying centered in both the personal and professional life.
Lawyers have turned to  the American Bar Association publication Women Rainmakers’ Best Marketing Tips for legal marketing advice for more than twenty years. The updated and expanded fourth edition came out in 2021.
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SETTLEMENT AND THE BOTTOM LINE

The offer on the table was a good one, but the attorney thought there was hope for something better. Then I took the attorney through the “what if’s.”

Expenses Matter
How much will it cost to bring this case to trial? What about experts’ fees? I asked the attorney to create two financial statements, one that showed the net financial result now versus the likely result after more litigation. Viewed in the most favorable light, more litigation produced the same financial benefit in the end. And if the result was not so favorable, prolonging the stress and financial outlay would have a negative financial result.

Attorney’s Fees
It costs money to run a law office. In a contingent fee practice, there is a lot of outgo before the reward comes in. When an attorney’s resources are at capacity, the choice is to turn away business or expand staff and space, thereby increasing the cost of running the office.

I asked the lawyer what his hourly fee would be if he kept litigating. “I’m on contingency. It’s the same.” “No,” I explained, “when your fee is contingent, the longer you work, the lower your hourly rate.”

For what appeared to be an ego-driven motive, not only was this attorney determined to keep fighting the client’s case for no foreseeable financial benefit, he was undermining his own financial stake in the matter.

Part of my job as mediator is helping parties, adjusters, and their lawyers see the full range of issues and possible results.

Remote Mediation Ethics

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many things about our jobs more difficult. And yet, there is a silver lining when it comes to case resolution.
 

The inability to safely congregate has compelled lawyers and claims professionals to turn to video mediation. Some were surprised to learn the benefits. Among these are that people are more relaxed in familiar environments; they feel more in control. Less stress results in better negotiation.

Pre-pandemic, the real decision makers often did not actively participate, instructing the attorneys, “Call me if something important happens.” These people missed getting the full picture. Now, there is no barrier (or excuse!) for parties who may be hundreds of miles away to actively participate. Again, the result is a better negotiation.

Lawyers must not shun mediating via remote technologies like Zoom. On the contrary, they have an ethical duty to master the technology. California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1 imposes a duty of competence, which includes the learning and skill reasonably necessary to provide legal services. The rule specifies that if you don’t already have that learning and skill, go out and get it or hand the case off to someone who does. State Bar of California’s Formal Opinion 2015-193 addressed the question of technology competence in a case involving e-discovery. The opinion states: “An attorney’s obligations under the ethical duty of competence evolve as new technologies develop and become integrated with the practice of law.”

Of course, you will want to choose a mediator who is comfortable with remote mediation technology. One way for you to get comfortable with it is to ask that mediator for a free practice session.

New Mediation Disclosure Law

Effective January 1, 2019, California attorneys must provide a written mediation disclosure statement to clients or face potential disciplinary consequences.

What Does the New Law Do?
The disclosure does not protect clients so much as inform them about mediation confidentiality. Under changes to the Evidence Code, attorneys must have clients sign off on a mediation disclosure form as soon as reasonably possible before the client agrees to participate in mediation. If the attorney is hired after the client has agreed to mediate, the attorney must get the client’s sign-off as soon as reasonably possible after being retained. If the client signed off on a disclosure with prior counsel, new counsel should get another acknowledgement naming the current attorney. All clients should sign it.

The disclosure must be on a single page not attached to any other document and must be printed in the preferred language of the client in at least 12-point font. It must include the names of the attorney and the client and be signed and dated by the attorney and the client.

The law specifically contemplates an “attorney disciplinary proceeding to determine whether the attorney has complied with Section 1129.”

Unh-Unh, Not Me
What if the Evidence Code doesn’t apply to your practice area? You work in administrative law, such as Workers Compensation, or limit your practice to federal court.

Even if you never handle a case with a state civil court aspect nor a federal case with diversity jurisdiction, observing the new rule is the safe choice.That this amendment passed at all started with concerns about legal malpractice suits founded on communications within the mediation process. Legal malpractice suits are filed in state court or rely on diversity jurisdiction using state rules. Mediation confidentiality rules apply to all types of practice.

What Does the Disclosure Do—And Not Do?
The disclosure lays out the basics of the mediation disclosure rules, i.e., an almost total evidentiary exclusion of communications. This includes legal advice provided to a client during the mediation. Absence of the client’s signature or that the client did not receive the form is not a ground for invalidating a settlement agreement.

The “safe harbor” disclosure form in Evidence Code 1129 assures clients they can still sue for malpractice or report misconduct to the State Bar, just not using any evidence relating to a mediation.

How To Comply
Attorneys who regularly mediate should consider obtaining the disclosure at the beginning of the representation. The safe harbor form doesn’t limit the disclosure to a single case. Nonetheless, attorneys working on multiple cases under an ongoing or tripartite relationship may wish to add language to make it clear that the client is executing a blanket sign-off.

When The Injured Worker Calls- Ethical Implications

I get calls at least once a month from represented injured workers who don’t know what is going on with their claims. Stop and think about that in light of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Typically, in violation of existing rules, the AA has not communicated with the client. Sometimes the attorney has given the client false information. Recently an IW told me his lawyer said there was no such thing as mediation for workers’ compensation cases.

Many of these IW’s are reaching out directly to the employer’s counsel to try to resolve their issues. This puts the employer’s counsel in a difficult ethical position. New Rules 4.2 (represented person) and 4.3 (unrepresented person) lay out the restrictions on defense counsel for that communication.

Frustrated injured workers who want to resolve their claims are seeking information on the internet. That’s how they get to me.

I am not an advocate for anyone; I am a professional neutral. I have always made that role clear to callers. New Rule 2.4 requires mediators to inform unrepresented parties of the mediator’s neutrality. All I can do is assure the workers that I am available to mediate and to talk to their lawyers or adjusters about starting the process.

If you get a call from someone who wants to mediate, don’t brush off that inquiry. There is no charge to talk to me about whether mediation is right for your case. I’ll give you the information you need.