Litigation lawyers are, in a sense, at war. Each lawyer is fighting for his client to prevail. A spirited fight requires, sometimes, spirited verbal exchanges. But there are limits. Fellow lawyers, here’s a little rule of thumb: Don’t call your opponent an “asshole”. That’s exactly what one lawyer called another…
Many moons ago, before we humans invented a civil justice system, we resolved our disputes by brute force. Might made right. In the words of Thomas Hobbes, life was “nasty, brutish and short.” Then trials and courtrooms evolved. We put down our fists and swords and let judges and juries…
Advice to a young personal injury lawyer: Hey there young fella. Look at me! Grey hair is creeping up the side of my scalp. I am within shouting distance of 60-years old. I am now a veteran New York personal injury litigator. My running stride is slower, and aches and…
Being stupid and dishonest at the same time is a toxic mix. The math goes like this: stupid + dishonest = disaster. And here’s an example: An Iowa lawyer was stupid enough to fall for one of those obvious email scams cooked up by some Nigerian shysters. You know, one…
The “Creepy Jury Stalker” story, straight from my hometown, Syracuse, New York, has gone “viral”. The New York Law Journal covered it, and so did the American Bar Association Journal not to mention the Syracuse Post Standard. Now an even more important news source is covering it: Me. The backdrop…
One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. Likewise, a few greedy lawyers can make all lawyers look bad. Here’s a prime example. First some background. We New York personal injury lawyers generally charge a 1/3 contingency fee. Sometimes we work our asses off and the case goes south or…
Giving back to those who make Cayuga County strong is a priority for the Auburn New York personal injury lawyers at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka. That’s why Michaels Bersani Kalabanka is honoring United Way of Cayuga County volunteers as “hometown heroes” at all Auburn Doubledays home games this summer. How does…
First, some background: The wheels of justice would come to a screeching halt without the Court’s power to subpoena non-party witnesses to testify in court. Subpoenaed witnesses, like it or not, must appear in court, take the oath, and testify about what they saw, heard, or know. In civil cases…
Are you against frivolous lawsuits? Good, me too. Not to worry. I’ve got the solution. Hold on. First a story. Several years ago, a fellow Central New York personal injury lawyer secured a famously large settlement on a personal injury case. At a party a few days later, someone took…
For a 57 year-old Central New York personal injury lawyer, I’m pretty social-media savvy. I blog, I tweet, I google, I post on Facebook, etc. So when I read some twitter chatter about an article titled “Juror Misconduct in the Age of Social Networking”, I googled the article and read…