Litigation, Who Has War Stories?

Alumni Guy

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As I’m sure you’re dying to know, I’m an attorney (unfortunately). I’ve had more than my share of cases. It’s been my experience, that unless it’s a decent sized case ($100,000+), it’s basically not worth the stress and expense, even if you win and get your attorneys fees repaid.

For example, I had the chance to sue the person I bought my house from because he concealed major flooring damage. The cost to repair was about $15,000. I tried to force them to settle pre-suit, but they weren’t interested. (Their D-bag attoeny drafted a reply which made no legal sense) I actually paid a lawyer to review my case, and he confirmed that we had a great chance at success.

In the end, wife and I passed on suing because we’d rather have our sanity than $15,000. Probably best money I ever spent.

Just curious, have you ever been in litigation and what was your experience like? Be honest if you lost the case. Also, probably not best to discuss open litigation, you never know who’s reading your post, and technically your post would be an admission which “can and will be used against you in a client of law”

Finally, before you say it, I’ll say it for you: Lawyers Suck. 90% of us hate our job too, and we hate dealing with other lawyers.
 

LaylaGator

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@Alumni Guy I am also a litigator, and I agree whole-heartedly with your post. I always try to settle cases for my client when possible, because the expense of trial is rarely worth the end results.

Whenever I accept a new case, I expressly warn the client about the costs of litigation. And then, invariably, they end up complaining about the costs of litigation.
 

Nalt

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Jul 23, 2020
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Several years ago my oldest daughter spent a few nights with my parents. One evening, my mother asked her to go get the paper from the box which actually is on the opposite side of the road. Happy to comply, Melita went out the front door and up the driveway. When she got in the middle of the road, the neighbor's dog from across the road attacked her. It bit her lower leg and left a nasty scar. When I got there I got the dog's owner to come and talk about it. He confirmed that the dog DID NOT have it's rabies vaccination up to date. The county made him quarantine the dog for 10 days and that was the end of it. I paid for her medical care and we forgot about it.

Two years later, my 2nd daughter was spending a couple of nights with my folks and again, Mom asked Sarah to go get the paper. She hadn't even gotten half the way up the driveway when the same dog came across the road and attacked her. The injuries were significantly worse this time. And again, the rabies vaccination was NOT up to date. We decided to sue. Hired a lawyer and waited. Probably almost 2 years later it finally got to go to court. Our lawyer made theirs look silly. Our testimony, as well as another neighbor who agreed to testify about her experiences with the same dog really won the case over for us. Our lawyer tried to argue for a substantial amount but in the end, I think the judge ordered them to pay us ~$11,000, of which, one third went to our lawyer leaving my daughter only about $7,000. :headslap:
 

Egor's Assistant

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Currently involved in two active cases. Very interested in this thread. Damages on the first case are $880K. We're the plaintiffs in that one. Other case, we're being sued by someone trying to get in on our first case. They want $500K from us including emotional damages. Both cases are from when we lived in California, the most litigious state in the nation. Personally, I wish we had never started the original case. Now that we have the "parasite," the emotional toll is hardly worth the effort and expense even if we win our original ask. It's very wise to avoid litigation at all costs if possible.
 

Egor's Assistant

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Wait - which time zone?
Don't try to pull that sh!t again, you coward. High-noon EST. It's go time.
b8adf96a-865c-490d-9e5a-aae811336dd2_text.gif
 

Egor's Assistant

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Hang on Lil buddy - you called out B52.
I was just going to bring the popcorn and a lawyer
I figure my only chance against B52 is if he's too old to see straight. How thick are your glasses B52?

I'm still just a young buck, rocking the 2.0 reading glasses.
 

Alumni Guy

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Now that we have the "parasite," the emotional toll is hardly worth the effort and expense even if we win our original ask.
The emotional roll is one aspect of litigation that people don’t really account for. When I explain that to my clients, it’s always the same, “I can handle it, I’m rough, the anger I feel is worth the emotional toll”

But, until you’ve been in it, it’s tough to explain how tough it is to deal with. It seems like an end will never come, and the legal fees start coming in at thousands per month.

Sorry you’re dealing with it, but $880k is A LOT of damages: you almost had to sue. Best of luck.

“Emotional distress damages”: what a load of poop.
 

AlexDaGator

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Litigations is very expensive and usually counter-productive.

At the initial consultation, the prospective client always says it's not about the money, it's about the principle.

Couple months of $20K/mo. legal bills and guess what...it's about the money.

So here's the problems...

1. Even if you're right and the other guy is wrong, if the other guy has deeper pockets, he can still beat you (unless it is a contingency fee case which generally only happens in personal injury). This is a dirty little secret of litigation and the wealthy can win even if the poor has a rock-solid case. As long as the wealthy can survive past an early motion to dismiss or summary judgement, he can run up legal fees during discovery until he's bled you white and you have no more money to continue the fight. This is particularly heartbreaking.

2. If there's no prevailing party fees provision, even if you win, your litigation costs shrink your recovery. Say you have a slam dunk of a $200K case. If you spend $100K on your attorney, you really only recover $100K so overall you're in the hole $100K. Of course, you could lose the case too.

3. If there is a prevailing party fees provision, you rapidly reach the point where the combined fees exceed the damages. When that happens...you can't settle without both sides losing which means you can't settle. Then it becomes a death march to the end, fees keep rising, winner take all, but that leads to...

4. A judgement in your favor is nothing more than a piece of paper. You can get $1M judgement against me, and it's not worth much of anything. My homestead is protected, my retirement is protected, my car is protected, my salary is mostly protected (got dependents), etc. What's worse, I can file for bankruptcy and you'll get even less. All that fighting, all that litigation, all those legal fees, and in the end you win big, you get all your damages and all your attorney's fees and the other guy turns around the next day and files for bankruptcy. Whomp-Whomp.

Sometimes, the best advice is to settle early before the fees make settlement impossible. You have to do enough litigation so both sides know what the case is really worth (otherwise settlement negotiations will be a waste of time).

A young attorney advising a client focuses on the facts of the case, and whether the facts and the law are on the client's side. A seasoned attorney also takes into account things like deep pockets, likelihood of recovery (or bankruptcy), etc.


Alex.
 

Egor's Assistant

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The emotional roll is one aspect of litigation that people don’t really account for. When I explain that to my clients, it’s always the same, “I can handle it, I’m rough, the anger I feel is worth the emotional toll”

But, until you’ve been in it, it’s tough to explain how tough it is to deal with. It seems like an end will never come, and the legal fees start coming in at thousands per month.

Sorry you’re dealing with it, but $880k is A LOT of damages: you almost had to sue. Best of luck.

“Emotional distress damages”: what a load of poop.
So many litiGATORS on here. We should sue the UAA!

And you're right about how tough it is. Those written discovery questions were a killer.
 

B52G8rAC

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Hang on Lil buddy - you called out B52.
I was just going to bring the popcorn and a lawyer
Have you ever seen the opening barroom gunfight scene from Waterhole #3? James Coburn is my idea of fair fighting duelist.
 

Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
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Most badass scene from a western.....and in fact the way I'm sure many of you have felt when trying to debate me over the years on here...:rotfl:
 

Concrete Helmet

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As I’m sure you’re dying to know, I’m an attorney (unfortunately). I’ve had more than my share of cases. It’s been my experience, that unless it’s a decent sized case ($100,000+), it’s basically not worth the stress and expense, even if you win and get your attorneys fees repaid.

For example, I had the chance to sue the person I bought my house from because he concealed major flooring damage. The cost to repair was about $15,000. I tried to force them to settle pre-suit, but they weren’t interested. (Their D-bag attoeny drafted a reply which made no legal sense) I actually paid a lawyer to review my case, and he confirmed that we had a great chance at success.

In the end, wife and I passed on suing because we’d rather have our sanity than $15,000. Probably best money I ever spent.

Just curious, have you ever been in litigation and what was your experience like? Be honest if you lost the case. Also, probably not best to discuss open litigation, you never know who’s reading your post, and technically your post would be an admission which “can and will be used against you in a client of law”

Finally, before you say it, I’ll say it for you: Lawyers Suck. 90% of us hate our job too, and we hate dealing with other lawyers.
Interesting. How was the contract written for the purchase of the house? How can you be sure the prior owner was responsible for installing the flooring? Was there any kind of verbal or written acknowledgement? Was it sold as is?
 

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