October 16, 2012 |
Settlement Strategy
I was brought into a matter as trial counsel two months before trial. Our client, a liquidation specialist, had been working with a jewelry chain which was having financial problems. At the end of the engagement our client was accused of taking a number of expensive watches (complicated by the fact that there was a video recording confirming the allegations). Instead of focusing on our client’s liability I turned the focus to an examination of the plaintiff. We confirmed that the plaintiff had never actually paid for the watches in question. Further, the plaintiff had defaulted on a judgment to another vendor and was about to be placed in receivership (a fact they apparently had not shared with their trial counsel). The case was resolved for less than 10% of the estimated cost of going to trial the following month.