Rule 5.1 and the Solo Lawyer
By David C. Carr
Part of California’s new revised Rules of Professional Conduct is entirely new Rule 5.1(a) that addresses the responsibilities of a managing lawyer in a law firm. It provides,
Why Mediation?
By Lawrence A. Huerta
One of the most difficult jobs of an advocate is making a strong opening offer that generates a reasonable counter-offer. There are no standard formulas, so how is a strong and realistic opening offer calculated? In the context of litigation, when should an opening offer be conveyed? Conventional wisdom is to open with an extreme offer to test the other party and to explore their flexibility. Unfortunately, if the opening offer is perceived as extreme, it can lead to an early breakdown in negotiations. Another piece of conventional wisdom is to make a “throwaway” offer without any reasonable expectation of launching a productive negotiation and for the primary purpose of probing the other party’s willingness to negotiate in a certain range. In 26 years of mediating litigated cases, throwaway offers have been the source of many early stalemates or, at the very least, extensive time devoted to bringing the opening offer into a reasonable range. In the worst cases, throwaway offers can poison an entire negotiation by negatively influencing all remaining counter-offers, including final offers.
Take Note — Courts Have Dictionaries
The case in question serves as a graphic reminder that ad hominem attacks on judicial officers, even seemingly clever ones, not only fail, but carry professional responsibility jeopardy
How to Make a Strong-And Realistic-Opening Offer in Negotiation
Gregg F. Relyea
Opening a Negotiation
A case must be strategically positioned before meaningful negotiation can take place. An invitation to negotiate can be perceived as premature if there are significant gaps in information about liability and damages. Negotiation can be viewed as too late if the parties have waited too long, costs have become prohibitive, or the parties have become entrenched in their positions.
Modes of Contract Review
By William Marshall
Transactional attorneys refer simply to “reviewing” a contract. However, I have identified different modes of review and found that thinking about them can be helpful in improving my review practices. The following are nine modes of review that I, to varying degrees, am adopting as I review an agreement. Some of them overlap and, of course, I very often perform multiple or even all of these modes in a single reading of an agreement. However if time permits, separate readings focused on one or two of these modes at a time can result in a better, more comprehensive assessment and markup of a document.
