It's truly amazing;Judges who never settled a case in their lives join a mediation company and they're now experts.

I gotta laugh. Almost every week or every other week an announcement is published in the Law Journal letting the legal community know that another judge has retired from the bench and is joining a private mediation/dispute resolution company. Some of these former Judges never really practiced law and others never really had "the stomach " to spend the time while on the bench settling cases. Whatever the reason; it "was beneath them, " they didn't have the time", didn't have the expertise or whatever, they didn't do it.
Most Judges' idea of trying to settle a case is "what's your demand, what's your offer? Ok," you're too far apart, go pick a jury".
But these same former judges now retire, become instant experts on settlement and the parties are of course charged $500/hour for their time. Remember, a name doesn't get a case settled, but a patient, realistic, practical , experienced and level-headed jurist will.
The key; Check out your proposed mediator with individuals whose opinions you trust. Not everyone is as good as Mike McCallister.

Worst Funding States of 2010;

WORST FUNDING STATES OF 2010;
1. Maryland
2. Ohio
3. Illinois
4. Georgia

Best Funding States of 2010.

BEST FUNDING STATES OF 2010;
1, New York
2. New Jersey
3. Florida
4. Pennslyvania
5. California
6. Nevada
7. Texas

I'm Tickled Pink; There is still warmth, decency and sensitivity on "The Bench".

Let's face it; the world has changed, people have changed, the practice of law has changed and "Judicial Demeanor " is no longer the same. Right or wrong, State Court Judges and even more so, Federal Court Judges have become outwardly tougher, increasingly impersonal , less approachable and in my opinion(20 years of trying cases and almost 6 years funding them) the "Bench " oozes with insensitivity. Is this because the caseloads have reached such stagnating levels ,or because attorneys and litigants are more recalcitrant, or due to more pressure from administrators to"move cases" or a combination of all of the above.
Whatever the reasons, "tough" seems to be in. So when I read Wednesday's New York Law Journal, I was tickled pink when Judge Kimba Wood , a well-respected Federal Court Judge in Manhattan granted an orthodox Jewish defense attorney's application to have a day off from trial if his daughter's first baby is a boy[for the Bris] and Judge Wood also wrote" if a daughter is born there will be a public celebration in Court, with readings from poetry celebrating girls and women"(see "aishes chayil").
Wow! How cool is that ! After getting sanctioned numerous times by judges over the years for anything from speaking objections, chewing gum to taking off your suit jacket when it is 98 degrees and there is no air-conditioning in the Courtroom, this goes a long way towards restoring my belief in civility, caring and compassion in the Coutroom.

Judge Wood, you made my day!

2010; Best Carriers.

Best Carriers of 2010;
1. Chubb
2. AIG
3.Progressive
4. Utica Mutual
5. Zurich
6.Met. Life
7. Hartford
8. Geico

Your thoughts?

2010 Year End, Top 10 Worst Carriers -Defendants.

Top 10 worst carriers /defendants of 2010;
1. American Transit Insurance Company
2. Countrywide Insurance
3. Allstate
4. New York Transit Authority
5. City of New York
6. State of New York
7. County of Westchester
8. State Farm
9. U.S.A[Tort Claims Act]
10. All med. malp. defendants

Happy turkey to all.

Did you ever get lucky enough to catch a defendant altering records?

You can go years and years, through thousands of cases and hundreds of trials without catching a defendant altering records. You may think they altered records, be highly suspicious of it and even hire an expert to opine on the issue.
But how often do you actually catch a defendant altering who admits it on the stand at trial in open Court "under oath". Well ladies and gentleman, in a nursing home negiligence case[no bedrails-fractured hip] which I tried in Superior Court, Bergen County, the triage nurse admitted to records being altered. I almost fainted! I continued my cross for an hour before the Judge had to call in the "cut man" to clean her up.
As is every trial lawyer's God given responsibility , I summed up on it for almost 2 hours, pounding, and pounding and pounding!
Result : plaintiff's verdict $330,000.
Moral of the story; If you get ahold of something good, never, ever let up. Because I guarantee you, your adversary won't!