Avoid Litigation

As a business attorney Tulsa I cannot say this phrase enough. Avoid Litigation. Avoid Litigation. Avoid Litigation. At. All. Costs.
I started my career as a litigator. I wanted to be a trial attorney. And I became one. But that is a very hard life. While some trial business attorney Tulsa are very kind and easy to work with, some are not. I find that the latter “some” were the bad apples that spoiled the whole bunch for me. The things that “some” lawyers do to others is horrendous. I had a boss once tell me to be nice to someone, but to “dick up” when I needed to. I got where he was coming from, but I remembered the Biblical parrel: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Here is why I recommend avoiding litigation because I have worked at firms that bill by the hour. Every hour you are there (and some hours when you are not), someone is being billed. Those law firms are classic pyramid schemes. Older business attorney Tulsa hire an army of associates to bill at inflated rates and pay them decently well, but the partners make all the money. Any person who has worked at one of these places will confirm this truth if they are honest with themselves.

Here is an example of a case where we billed a client and the client became very upset. I once had a case where a small construction vehicle contacted a building in Oklahoma City. The concern from the owner of the building is there was asbestos in the building that became loose. This business attorney Tulsa got the case and set up our file. It started out as a pre-litigation claim, but we were unable to resolve the dispute. Accordingly, an insurance company who represented the owner of the building hired another firm on a contingency fee basis to sue the owner of the equipment. This lawsuit required an initial meeting with the owner of the equipment, filing an Answer, sending written discovery requests, four depositions, and a mediation. For every deposition and mediation, there was preparation time billed to the client. We also billed travel time for a total of four visits to Oklahoma City. At mediation, the case settled for a confidential amount.

When the insurance company we worked for assigned a new adjuster, he flew to Oklahoma City to personally appear at the mediation. He was not pleased with the amount of business attorney Tulsa work put into this case. He was not very pleased. At the time, I drove a Dodge Challenger, something he considered to be a “sports car.” He complained that our firm was overbilling the insurance company so they could justify windshield time for their associates in high-priced sports cars. For the record, my car was used when I bought it and I bought it only because my job required frequent trips to Oklahoma City and I wanted something that got decent gas mileage.

In case you had not surmised by now, this lawsuit was expensive to defend. But that’s what those firms do. They have files and they bill those files. The justification behind that type of behavior is they need to “thoroughly investigate” to ensure that the case is properly defended.

You must understand that not all lawyers are bad. Some of the business attorney Tulsa firms I know of who handle the type of work described above do so very honorably. They have high reviews from their clients and they employed talented, passionate lawyers and staff. Then there are the “some” described above. This piece is dedicated to those.

So how can you avoid a potential conflict from escalating into a full-blown lawsuit. There are several ways.

The first way is to have a mandatory mediation or arbitration clause in your business attorney Tulsa written contract with those you choose to do business with. These are straight-forward clauses that are contained in most contracts. You specify that in the event of a dispute, mediation shall be mandatory prior to the commencement of any litigation. Understand that this approach is not bulletproof. A frustrated person can always file suit. But a mandatory mediation clause will give you the opportunity to argue breach of contract and the judge can then issue an order that the parties proceed with mediation prior to any further litigation.

The second way you can avoid litigation is by contacting your insurance agent and the adjuster assigned to the case. Express to them that you purchased a policy of insurance and expect the adjuster to fairly analyze the claim and you have a sincere preference to settle the case without litigation. I as a business attorney Tulsa recommend putting this expression in writing so that way you can have that later if there is a bad faith suit. Now understand that your insurance company will not like this approach. But they do not always have your best interests at heart. Remember, insurance companies are businesses with a profit motive.

The third and final way you can avoid expensive litigation is by attempting to right a wrong with a customer. Let’s face it. We do not always do our best work. Somedays, you are on fire and can’t be stopped. Others, you might as well go home. If a customer is upset, contact the person to see what you can do to correct the problem. Maybe you issue a partial refund? Maybe you perform a service for free? Listen to what the disgruntled customer wants and go from there. Remember, we even a business attorney Tulsa are all human.
Having a quality attorney with whom you can consult during these times will save you dividends later. If you are considering an attorney, consider the RC Law Group. I have handled and addressed numerous disputes in both my professional and personal life. I am ready to assist your business with whatever dispute you have, ongoing or otherwise.

Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Before conflicts escalate to the point that the parties, “lawyer up,” contact this business attorney Tulsa to see what we can do to fix the problem. It could save you thousands of dollars you don’t want to spend on a problem you shouldn’t have to have.