Environmental Law

Hiring Counsel for an Environmental Toxic Tort Case - Part 2

By Gail Wurtzler

Continuing with my series of posts on “Hiring Counsel for an Environmental Toxic Tort Case,” this week I address the second criterion - COMMITMENT. 

Commitment applies to both plaintiff and defendant. You want the lead lawyer and his/her team to commit fully to your case. Environmental toxic tort cases are difficult to win if your lead lawyer is pulled in multiple directions and not focused on preparing your case. Having too large or small of a team, or a team composed of an inappropriate mix of people, interferes with efficient and effective preparation and trial of one of these cases.   Similarly, repeated turnover of team members always costs you, the client, even if you are not billed for the time for a new person to get up to speed because you lose case-specific knowledge of the departing team member. Three thoughts:

1. Ask the lead lawyer to commit to you to make your case his/her priority for as long as it takes. Environmental toxic tort cases are complicated and frequently have a lot of moving parts. You want your lead lawyer to be on top of all aspects of your case so s/he can make good judgments and adjust strategy as needed. 
    
2. Discuss staffing with the lead lawyer and his/her firm. At the end of the initial discussion, you want an understanding that the case will be staffed leanly, i.e., with a smaller number of people who have substantial continuing roles, rather than with a larger number of people who may drop in and out on a project-by-project basis. You also want to see a team staffed with lower costs people where appropriate. Finally, you want a commitment from the firm to revisit staffing with you periodically or as the case develops to make sure that staffing continues to be appropriate. 
    
3.  Talk to the lawyer’s clients in prior environmental toxic tort cases and ask about the level of commitment they experienced.

Full post as published by Environmental Toxic Torts Blog on October 21, 2008 (boomark / email).