Virtual Juries
Historically, courts move at a pace that would frustrate even the most patient sloth, as we form committees, study options, and analyze unintended consequences.
Litigation Journal | Summer 2021: Crisis
Volume 47, Issue 4
Features
Adapting to the Pandemic: One Judge’s Experience
Perhaps the more interesting question is this: What practices and lessons will endure from this crisis?
Legal Crisis Management in a Time of Crisis
While the pandemic will pass, the risk to organizations of future crises will not. While crises cannot always be prevented, a crisis can be managed.
Managing Mental Health and Ethics in the Wake of the COVID-19 Crisis
Regardless of how life may look going forward, attorneys and law firms must consider the ethical issues that have been raised during the pandemic and the lessons that can be learned from them.
Parental Alienation in Family Courts
On the chessboard of divorce, children can be pawns, played by one parent to align against the other.
An Alternative to the “Funnel” Approach for Taking Depositions
In complex civil cases with high stakes, starting with open-ended questions and funneling down with narrower and increasingly more detailed questions can be counterproductive.
The Life and Times of a Commercial Chapter 11 Debtor
When used properly, Chapter 11 can be extremely beneficial to businesses facing difficulty, but its proceedings can overwhelm lawyers who don’t regularly practice in the area.
The Upsides of Commercial Arbitration
The authors argue that arbitration offers a timeline and a kind of self-determination unavailable in court.
Columns
Respect for the Judiciary
Judges may be strict constructionists or originalists or textualists or activists (in the traditional sense), but they are each deserving of our thanks and our respect for their undying devotion to t…
Practical Advice for Virtual Mediation
Virtual mediation may be the best available option for resolving pending cases and pre-litigation disputes.
The Relativity of Legal Ethics
We assume that, on balance, our ethical rules get it right most of the time in most of the circumstances that we most often encounter. But is that enough?
Plain Speaking About Professional Ethics
Any course of action that changes or rearranges this hierarchy—court system, client interest, self-interest—violates a lawyer’s professional responsibilities.
Having It All
Does the law, with its eternal hours, its demand for complete devotion and fidelity, make significant commitment to family impossible?
"Of Counsel" Relationships
The best place to start when considering having a lawyer associate with a law firm is whether the lawyer will be treated as inside or outside the firm for ethics purposes.
Headnotes
A Call for Some Punk in Our Advocacy
Following the lead of bands like the Ramones, stripped-down, cleaned-up litigating means shorter, more productive motions, hearings, and trials.
Hidden Meanings
Here are some common phrases uttered in deposition or in court, along with what might really be intended by their speaker.