Drive Better Outcomes

By now most litigators know that generative artificial intelligence is a two-edged sword. While the ethical duty of technology competence arguably requires litigators to consider using artificial intelligence technologies for client matters, that same ethical obligation demands extreme vigilance when using what are, in fact, emerging and untested practice tools. To prove the point, we…

The American Bar Association’s suggestion last year that it would be ethically problematic for lawyers to charge high fees for formerly time-intensive work made easy by generative artificial intelligence has prompted an arguably long-overdue examination of traditional law firm billing practices. Who should benefit from exciting new legal technologies that can deliver better legal services…

The ethical duty of technology competence officially arrived in nation’s capital April 7, when the District of Columbia Court of Appeals formally approved revisions to its rules of professional conduct that identify technology as a resource that should be deployed on behalf of the client in appropriate circumstances. The D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct’s definition…

The rule seems simple enough: Attorneys defending a witness during a deposition may instruct the witness not to answer questions only for the purpose of protecting privileged information. And yet, if the number of trial court rulings addressing the topic are any indication, this business of instructing witnesses not to answer deposition questions is a…

We have been writing about the personal traits and professional skills litigators need to be successful in pretrial discovery practice for a long time. Whether it’s offering tips on how to master remote depositions, pointing out the need to thoroughly understand deposition-related procedural rules, reporting on the professional imperative to develop and maintain technology competence,…

Everything is bigger in Texas. Even pretrial discovery rules, which permit depositions to be taken merely for the purpose of investigating whether a lawsuit should be filed. No state is more permissive when it comes to pre-suit depositions and, not surprisingly, pre-suit depositions are a popular investigative tool for plaintiffs’ attorneys in Texas. Recently Texas’…