Winter 2016, Resolutions

Making Certain the Settlement You Intend Is the Settlement You Get

Robert Hugh Ellis

Litigators should resist the pressure to close a matter and instead focus on settlement details.

The Settlement of Family Law Disputes Gets No Respect

Craig E. Smith

Settlement allows wounds to heal, but many lawyers prepare for trial instead.

Mediation

The Seven Deadly Sins of Mediation

Joel Levine

An experienced mediator explains how to avoid self-inflicted wounds.

Clarity of Expression: The Keystone of Successful Advocacy in Dispute Resolution

Paul Mark Sandler

Avoiding vague and opaque language is key to successful dispute resolution.

Will the “Wrongful Involvement” Exception Swallow the American Rule?

Andrew J. Wronski and Gregory N. Heinen

An increasingly invoked exception allows the recovery of litigation fees.

King Arthur, Rambo, and the Origins of Civility at the Bar

Peter S. Poland

The chivalric code informs the call for civility that began echoing in the 1980s.

Opening Statement: Seven Tips for Writing Briefs and Motions

Steven A. Weiss

Practical advice from a veteran litigator.

From the Bench: The Dos and Don’ts of Settlement Conferences

Hon. James L. Cott

A magistrate judge observes the many things lawyers do to enhance the settlement process—and those done to impede it.

Patents

iWitness: Five Things Non-Patent Lawyers Should Know about the Latest Patent Law Developments

Robert W. Dickerson

Patent law has changed more in the past five years than it did in the prior 25.

On the Papers: The Progress of Thought: To Move Forward, Link Backward

George D. Gopen

For a reader the primary unit of thought is not the sentence but rather the paragraph--which requires instructions from the writer for its sentences to be properly linked together.

International Law

Global Litigator: Seeking Success in International Mediation

Barbara J. Dawson

As American businesses increasingly find themselves involved in cross-border transactions, business litigators need to be equipped to help resolve disputes with foreign entities.

Advance Sheet: Risk Assessment

Robert E. Shapiro

We seem perhaps on the edge of new territory, where lawyers are no longer held to account for the risks they are asked about, but now must also account for an uncertain and perhaps unlimited realm of the failure to foresee what may happen.

Sidebar: War Stories

Kenneth P. Nolan

What went wrong--and right--with three cases offers lessons and entertainment to litigators.

Scruples: Substantially Related Matters and Ethics Screens

Michael Downey

Although many states permit screens to avoid imputation when a lawyer changes firms, the screening must still be done correctly.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Privilege: Acquisition and Merger: Whose Privilege Is It Now?

Edna Selan Epstein

In which of instances is the seller corporation’s claim of attorney-client privilege likely to be honored by a court ?

Expert Witnesses

Experts: Weird Science: Consumer Survey Experts in the Courtroom

Steven J. Wadyka Jr.

I was never much of a science student. I majored in English. I satisfied my science requirement by taking a course known as “Physics for Poets.” There was no exam, no complex equations to be solved; we wrote a paper. Mine was entitled “The Problem of Quark Confinement.” To this day, I have no understanding of what that phrase mean

Professional Development

First-Time Lawyer: Reflections on the Early Years

Emily Crandall Harlan

We’ve all heard that law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer about the law. But what teaches you how to think like a lawyer about the many other aspects of the practice of law?

Briefs: Opening Lines

Charles N. Insler

Every brief starts from the same point: the opening line and the first few sentences that follow. From this point, as each sentence passes, briefs diverge.

Class Actions

Class Actions: Time for a Change

M. Todd Henderson

If you went to law school in the 1970s or 1980s, the class action mechanism was likely sold to you as a savior.