Litigation and trial practice

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 Crazy things happen in trials.  One recent jury in Bexar County apparently took some evidence home.  One of the jurors pocketed a picture of a boy in the hospital – who was the subject of an abuse trial.  See San Antonio Express News report.  A couple of the jurors took pictures home – perhaps…

Depositions are key events in any lawsuit.  The Opposing Counsel has the freedom to ask questions that lead to admissible evidence or questions which are reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence.  That standard allows a broad range of questions.  Most plaintiff employees are understandably nervous about being deposed regarding their case. 

Some plaintiffs, for…

Texas ethical rules require that lawyers not charge a client an "unconscionable" fee.  There is no precise definition of "unconscionable," but it does mean really, really high fees.  A lawyer in West Texas was paid millions of dollars by wrongly convicted inmates.  The wrongly convicted inmates receive $80,000 per year in state compensation for every…

 My clients often tell me some horrible deed by the employer and quickly ask me "can they do that?"  To me the real question is "will the employer’s act and his explanation pass muster with the judge and jury?"  I usually answer by "guestimating" what how a jury would respond.  If the client really presses…

Legal scholars are becoming more aware that actual trials in federal courts have decreased dramatically since the 1960’s.  Suja Thomas discussed this trend in a recent speech at Seattle University to mark the 25th anniversary of the summary judgment trilogy.  See Workplace Prof report.  Prof. Thomas mentions a couple of developments leading to this…

I have talked about this before, but it needs repeating.  See my prior post.  The plaintiff employee deposition is critical to success for any employment lawsuit.  The plaintiff employee must be able to show the opposing attorney and the employer that the employee can testify, can present well to a jury and can tell…