Litigation

What Defense Lawyers Can Learn from the Lawyers on the Other Side

By Evan Schaeffer

In "Think Like a Plaintiffs Attorney to Lower Litigation Costs," Stewart Weltman argues that defense lawyers can learn from the lawyers working on the other side of the "v."

How do plaintiffs' lawyers think? Weltman, who's a plaintiffs' lawyer himself, draws these fairly safe conclusions:

• Plaintiffs' lawyers have smaller teams working on cases, with even the most experienced lawyers working on the case day to day;
• Plaintiffs' lawyers assume that every case will go to trial, which helps their settlement posture;
• Plaintiffs' lawyers don't waste resources trying to persuade a judge to adopt weak arguments, which helps them maintain their credibility;
• Plaintiffs' lawyers try to keep the cases simple, rather than obfuscating them.

According to Weltman, each of these plaintiff-lawyer traits can be used to strengthen the defense of a case. Weltman also suggests hiring a plaintiffs' lawyer to be part of the defense team. "[H]aving an experienced plaintiffs counsel incorporated into the defense team gives your team insights into how the other side thinks."

It's a creative article that's worth reading.

Full post as published by The Illinois Trial Practice Blog on December 04, 2007 (boomark / email).