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Settling the cerebral palsy case
Dov Apfel
The road to settlement can be a rocky one, especially in a birth-injury case, where you’re often facing multiple defendants and complicated financial issues. To get there, you need answers to tough questions: Should you use a mediator? Would a structured settlement be the best option? Can your clients accept a partial settlement? Focusing on these issues early will help you steer your clients through this tough terrain.
The assault upon the citadel
James E. Rooks Jr.
One of corporate defendants’ key weapons against consumers is the sealed settlement. Keeping a company’s litigation history secret means keeping important information out of the public eye and granting virtual immunity to companies for ongoing misconduct. Civil justice advocates have been battering the “citadel” of court secrecy for years—and they’re still fighting.
Weapons for peace
Alexia Morrison
With mediation an increasing likelihood in lawsuits, it’s wise to polish up your mediation skills—and the first step is knowing that these are different from the skills you use at trial. Instead of aggressive tactics, you’ll need civility and candor; instead of persuasion, your goal will be cooperation. Learn how the right attitude, approach, and attention to your clients’ needs can help you ensure a smoother process and a better result.
Settlement strategies for complex global litigation
Richard Arsenault, J.R. Whaley, and Craig Freeman
Class action settlement is often the best way to settle a complex case: It offers global resolution and halts the drain of resources involved in lengthy litigation. Some plaintiffs may be receptive to other creative solutions, like structured inventory settlements or aggregate settlements. Consider the court’s involvement, the disposition of walk-away rights, and how to set attorney fees when deciding when and how to settle your complex case.
Beware the ERISA health plan lien
Peter H. Wayne IV and Mark R. Taylor
Just when you thought it was safe to settle your case, here comes an ERISA lien from your client’s health insurer, which is expecting reimbursement for benefits it paid. Here’s how to know when you can fight an ERISA lien—and what to do if the law says you can’t.
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Feature
A good offense against products
liability defenses
Ed Steinbrecher
Testimony that a product has a lengthy history of safe use can severely weaken
your products case. So can evidence that the product was modified
after it was sold. But the right argument—and some evidence
of your own—can expose the flaws in these defenses.
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News & Trends
Lawyers in demand for wage-and-hour lawsuits
FDA’s oversight of drug trials is
dangerously lax, report says
Suit against Blackwater invokes little-used human rights
law
Med-mal settlements are tied to quality of care, study
shows
Police and human rights groups wary of pocket-size Taser
Mandatory arbitration report reveals skewed system
Ninth Circuit OKs jury’s use of the Bible in death
penalty deliberations
Departments
President’s page
Allies for justice
Supreme Court review
Should American courts heed the ‘English warnings’?
Good counsel
Tech brief
Hearsay
Justice in motion
In 2007, new Congress set stage for progress on civil justice issues
New and updated resources meet members’ evolving needs
Highlighting new studies, AAJ exposes ‘stealth tort reform’ and problems with health courts
State leaders stare down tort ‘reform’ at Lobby Day
Books
Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business
by Joseph D. Pistone and Charles Brandt
The Cigarette Century by Allan
M. Brandt
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