by Jeri Kagel, M.Ed., J.D.

It’s a new year! Time to get back in shape after all the holiday merriment or all the lying around being couch potatoes. Now too is the time for the (obligatory) New Year’s resolutions.

We all deal with New Year’s resolutions differently. There are those who don’t make them because they are tired of breaking them. For those who do make resolutions, there is something of a typical range – folks without any intention of following through, others intending to “stick with it” (but secretly thinking that doing anything for a short time is good enough!) and those who begin the New Year with the hope of actually making good on their resolutions. (This third group tends to be in the minority!)

More often than not, any disappointment that arises from the failure to keep a resolution is over in a short time with the promise that “next year will be a better time to . . . (you fill in the blank).”

Here are some New Year’s resolutions I’d like to suggest to my attorney/litigator friends. I hope they resonate with you and add to your success in 2010.

by David M. Cox, Esq.

We seem to be cursed to live in interesting times. Many business concerns are facing serious cash flow issues. Money problems bring about marital strife, and financial issues surrounding divorces and business separations are more difficult in times where assets are more difficult to sell. Homeowners are walking away from their homes in the face of unemployment and mounting mortgage debt. Many investors have entered into real estate deals that have gone sour. In troubled times, debtors often neglect tax issues until it is too late to take advantage of some relief provisions in the tax code.

by Jeri Kagel, M.Ed., J.D.

You’ve received a Notice of Deposition. No problem. As usual, you’ll prepare the witness for his or her deposition as a way of damage control. You’ll take time the afternoon before, or the morning of, the deposition to talk to him or her about the “Golden Rules” of the deposition: “The goal is to get out of the deposition without hurting the case, so don’t volunteer information!” or “Don’t be scared by the overbearing attorney!” or “Don’t be fooled by the nice attorney!”

by Rachel Elovitz, Esq.

Between 1997 and 2007 medical tort costs in the United States reportedly doubled from $15 billion to $30 billion.1 During that same period, the median jury award in medical liability cases tripled from $157,000 to $487,000.2 By 2003 America’s civil justice system reportedly cost $246 billion, $845 per citizen or $3,380 for a family of four, the most expensive civil justice system in the industrialized world, according to the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA).3 In just three years (between 2000 and 2003), tort costs reportedly increased 35.4 percent.4 Over the last 50 years, U.S. tort costs have exceeded the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2 to 3 percentage points.5 America, according to ATRA, has a grossly ineffectual civil justice system that “returns less than 50 cents on the dollar and less than 22 cents for actual economic loss to claimants.”6 This reality has inspired legislative action in Georgia and resulted in various reforms since 2000.

by Jeri Kagel, M.Ed., J.D.

When something bad happens, it is human nature to want to blame something, or more often, someone. Identifying a source for blame provides closure for past wrongs, gives a sense of present control, and often eases fear of future harm. In a trial, be it civil or criminal, jurors are asked to determine blame. Twelve people who are strangers to each other, strangers to the parties, and strangers to the situation on trial must decide who or what is to blame, and the degree of blameworthiness.