The Attorney's Office Tools
Don’t Take a Case You Can’t Handle While it is true that your law license permits you to
practice anti-trust law, to write wills, to file personal injury litigation, to appear before administrative agencies such as the Zoning Commission, and to negotiate contracts on behalf of a sports superstar or entertainer, the reality is that no one reading this article knows how to do all of these things. When I started practicing law, the senior partner in
the firm came to me because a man had consulted him who wished to pursue federal litigation in the area of labor law. Te client claimed that his employer had discriminated against him in some respect. Moreover, grievances that he had filed with his union had been ignored. Tus, he wanted to sue both the employer and the labor union. My boss assigned the case to me because my resume had indicated that I had taken a single course in labor law at law school. Moreover, since I had only graduated from law school a few months earlier, labor law was surely to be fresh in my mind. Now, at the time I knew almost nothing about litigation. As for labor law, I knew that one could sue his employer under some federal statute, the name of which has long since been forgotten. I knew that there was federal jurisdiction at least some of the time. And, I knew that one could sue his labor union for failing to do what labor unions are supposed to do, and at
the time I knew what that was called. I suppose my grade of “C” in Labor Law was deserved. Well, you probably can anticipate the rest of the story. I drafted and filed a Complaint in the United States District Court. It was served upon the defendants. Te United Steelworkers of America hired some firm in Pittsburgh. Te employer hired Piper & Marbury. Te resulting litigation resembled somewhat the battle of Little Bighorn, and the slaughter which occurred in federal court was not unlike the final minutes of General Custer. In some sense I did better than Custer. My case lasted considerably longer than the battle of Little Bighorn, and, while I emerged defeated, I was alive. Taking that case didn’t serve the client well, and I learned my lesson. Don’t take a case in an area of law you don’t know. Some cases are very expensive to pursue. Can you afford
to fund the case? If you take a complex medical malpractice case involving surgery and pathology, you’ll need at least experts in those fields, and maybe an economist and maybe a life care planner. Tere will easily be $30,000 in expenses. If you don’t have the money, and you cannot fully fund the case if that is necessary, don’t take it. Or take it, refer it, stay active in it, and decrease your stress level. Some cases are brutally time consuming. Again, medical malpractice cases are a good example. Can you afford to try
10 Trial Reporter / Spring 2010
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