This list of “Five ways to avoid costly litigation”, from the British site Human Law Mediation, is not exactly earth-shattering, but I did want to flag Carolyn Elefant’s post linking to it at Law.com’s Legal Blog Watch, which begins:
Of course, some lawyers want to encourage, rather than avoid, costly litigation, because that’s how they boost their billables. But if your client can’t afford a costly fight, or would rather focus its energy on building its business rather than embroiled in disputes, then take a look at this tips…
One Comment
A doctor friend of mine made a related point: the best insurance against a malpractice suit is a family that sees that you honestly cared about the person and did your best. If they see that, they’ll overlook an honest error, figure we’re all human. It’s when they see someone as nasty or uncaring that they start thinking things over and looking for an attorney. When my ex died, the oncologists talked of nothing but getting a do not rescitate order, and when I asked to speak with one about her condition (she hid it from us), he just snapped that he had a hundred patients and didn’t have an hour to talk about this one (I had in mind more like three minutes). My doctor friend remarked “guys like him drive up my malpractice premiums.”
I know an atty who does malpractice work, and he said a third or half of his cases are generated by hospitals’ billing systems. Somebody makes a mistake and a patient winds up dead. The family writes it off until the hospital keeps dunning them for payment, and the computers turn it over to a collection agency, and they get good and mad.
Staying out of arguments is a great way to stay out of lawsuits!