Jogi ismeretek | Jogbölcselet » Settle or Go to Trial

Source: http://www.doksinet RAE GROUP ADR NEWSLETTER Settle or Go to Trial? A recently released study concluded that most plaintiffs who reject a settlement offer and proceed to trial ultimately receive less money than if they had accepted the settlement offer. The study found that Plaintiffs were wrong in approximately 61% of the cases, while Defendants were wrong in only about 24% of the cases. In only 15% of the cases, both parties correctly decided to proceed to trial, in that plaintiff received more than defendant offered while defendant paid less than plaintiff sought. This study, of over 2,000 cases from New York state courts that went to trial from 2002-2005, provides considerable food for thought for plaintiffs and defendants as well as their legal counsel, raising questions about how settlement decisions are made, as well as the quality of legal advice and the motives of lawyers providing that advice. One question the study did not answer is whether attorneys are failing to

adequately explain the pros and cons of a settlement or whether clients are paying attention to their attorneys. Ethic experts argue that the legal fee structure often leads attorneys to dissuade plaintiffs from settling early so that the client can be billed for all the hours required to prepare and try the matter. The study, published in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, found that mistakes were made more often in cases in which attorneys receive a percentage of whatever is won at trial. In the cases tracked by the study in which plaintiffs turned down an advantageous settlement, the average plaintiff received $43,000 less than the highest offer. Defendants who got it wrong suffered much more: an average of over $1 million. The study also surveyed trials results from a 40 year period, through 2004. An unsettling trend uncovered by the study is that over this period poor decisionmaking by litigants has become more common. What is the importance of this study for clients and

their counsel? In law school attorneys do not learn how to evaluate the outcomes of lawsuit or how to communicate this information to clients, especially if this information is not what the client wants to hear. Therefore, attorneys need to use their experience and judgment to more carefully evaluate cases, especially in the early stages of litigation. Further, they need to hone their communication and tact skills to deliver this information in a constructive manner to clients. Source: http://www.doksinet From the other viewpoint, a client needs to listen more closely to the attorney is saying, to try to viewpoint this information as objectively as possible and to question the attorney closely. An able mediator will be able to assist counsel and client to overcome these problems The author, Jay Lazrus, is an experienced attorney and neutral. For more information, or to retain his services as a mediator or arbitrator, please visit his website at www.raegroup com or go to

www.virtualcourthousecom and select him as your neutral To unsubscribe to this newsletter please send an email to jlazrus@raegroup.com with Unsubscribe in the subject line