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Full-Text Articles in Law
Confidential Settlements For Professional Malpractice, Sande L. Buhai
Confidential Settlements For Professional Malpractice, Sande L. Buhai
St. John's Law Review
(Excerpt)
A lawyer representing a plaintiff in a professional malpractice case advises her client not to file a complaint with the state regulatory body—the state bar, the medical board, or some other pertinent body—until later. The lawyer explains that she can offer to settle the case more favorably, more quickly, and at lower cost if they promise that, as part of the settlement, defendant’s malfeasance will never be reported to the state regulatory body responsible for ensuring professional competence in the area. This tactic may allow the client to negotiate a larger settlement because the defendant should be willing to …
...Because It’S Not Just About Money, Elayne E. Greenberg
...Because It’S Not Just About Money, Elayne E. Greenberg
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
When lawyers represent their clients in party-decided dispute resolution processes such as negotiation or mediation, lawyers have a unique opportunity to work with their clients to help shape a comprehensive settlement beyond just a monetary settlement. This is an opportunity to address the client’s human and core concerns and to help their client secure their personalized sense of justice. However, lawyers and mediators who myopically seek to resolve every legal conflict by just monetary resolution are akin to the carpenter who sees everything as a nail because the only tool available is a hammer. This column invites you to …
When The Price Of Settlement Is Ethically Prohibitive: Non-Disparagement Clauses That Apply To Lawyers, Elayne E. Greenberg
When The Price Of Settlement Is Ethically Prohibitive: Non-Disparagement Clauses That Apply To Lawyers, Elayne E. Greenberg
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
At last! You have lived with this case for many years, and you are now on the verge of finalizing the terms of a settlement agreement. All the contentious issues have finally been resolved, so you thought, when the defendant leans over the table and says, “Just one more thing. We want you and your client to sign a non-disparagement clause as part of the settlement.” Yes, non-disparagement clauses have been frequently used as a controversial reputational shield in high-conflict divorces, sensitive employee terminations and contentious consumer actions. However, barely discussed is whether lawyers are ethically able to suggest …
Show Me The Money: Part One, Elayne E. Greenberg
Show Me The Money: Part One, Elayne E. Greenberg
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
Until now, the discussion of how to ethically monetize “the value added” that settlement savvy attorneys bring to the client has been one of the few remaining taboos that is rarely, candidly discussed among lawyers. How should settlement-proficient lawyers calculate the value of efficient, quality outcomes? How does a lawyer who bills by the hour ethically deal with the inherent conflict of interest between his desire to make as much money as he can and the economic disincentive to be settlement proficient? What are some creative billing incentives to more closely align the clients’ desire for contained legal costs …