Legalese Translator What Is An Attorneys’ Service
Lawyers who are representing clients in a lawsuit, either the plaintiff or the defendant, will periodically mention that they used an attorneys' service.
On some level, everything a lawyer or lawyer does could be thought of as an attorneys' service. That's why the phrase is often misleading to non-lawyers.
The phrase,'attorneys service' has a very precise meaning in the context of a lawsuit. It refers to an outside company hired by the law firm to physically take legal papers to the courthouse and have them filed with the court clerk. It's inefficient for a lawyer to take the time to drive or walk to the courthouse and potentially stand in line to perform a largely administrative task. That's where the attorneys' service comes in. They employ messengers who for a flat fee will deliver the papers to the court and return with a copy bearing the court's date stamp. That's how lawyers prove that they filled court papers on time and didn't miss any deadlines.
If you are filling out any of the court documents yourself, find out whether you can use your law firm's attorney service. You too may be able to avoid having to take time from your job to physically go to court to file documents. And if you are like most people, and your lawyer is filling out or drafting all the court documents, at least you now know what your lawyer means when they use the term, "attorney service."
Posted by Gideon on 07/19 at 12:45 PM
Categories: Legalese Translator |
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Legalese Translator What Does Leave To Amend Mean
You have been sued and your lawyer calls you to tell you the good news: The judge granted your request to dismiss the other's side's lawsuit or portions of it "with leave to amend."
A motion to dismiss is an attempt to get rid of a lawsuit (or a part of it) right after it is filed. If it's granted, the case can be over or a part of the lawsuit can be thrown out for good. Lots of defense lawyers like to file these motions if they can.
The idea behind "leave to amend" is pretty straightforward, but it may involve tricky strategic considerations when you have been sued.
"Leave to Amend" is a judge's way of saying, "I'll give you another chance." In other words, when a motion to dismiss is granted or approved by the court with "leave to amend," the result is mixed for both sides. The plaintiff has at a minimum been delayed, but he or she does get another chance to file the lawsuit.
Motions to Dismiss can be expensive when you are paying by the hour. They often cost $10,000 or more (depending on your lawyer’s hourly rate and the complexity of the issues involved). That's why you and your lawyer need to carefully weigh the benefits relative to the risks that the court will give the the plaintiff another chance to file the lawsuit. Some lawsuits suffer from a technical defect. For example, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit forgot to include some allegation that is required by law. If it's easy for the lawyer to cure the defect, it's probably a waste of your time and money to pay for a motion to dismiss. The judge will likely grant the other side "leave to amend," and you will just be paying your lawyer to help educate the other side's lawyer how to make the lawsuit better for the person or entity that is suing you.
On the other hand, some lawsuits are big enough and some issues are important enough to risk having the judge give the other side another chance. Judges are often reluctant to throw out a lawsuit without giving the plaintiff's lawyer at least one additional chance to fix any problems with the lawsuit. Thus, you should discuss with your lawyer the likelihood that you will have to pay to file more than one motion to dismiss (one to try to dismiss the lawsuit in its initial form, and then potentially another when the other side takes its second chance).
There is no hard and fast rule as whether you should take the risk that a motion to dismiss will be granted with "leave to amend." Sometimes it's a good risk to take and sometimes it isn't. But a client can't make a sensible strategic decision about this issue unless you know what "leave to amend" means and how it may impact your specific lawsuit.
Legalese Translator What Does ADR Mean
Lawyers love acronyms. When they talk among themselves they can say things like, "When it comes to ADR, do you prefer AAA or JAMS?"
I know -- clear as mud.
Let's break this down one acronym at a time.
ADR stands for alternate dispute resolution. You might be wondering an alternative to what. It's an alternative to traditional lawsuits. Specifically, any system for resolving disputes that is different than a civil, non-criminal, lawsuit. That's what ADR refers to--it specifically includes arbitration, mediation and its variations.
AAA and JAMS are two organizations that provide alternate dispute resolution services. The AAA is the American Arbitration Association and JAMS is one of its competitors. JAMS was originally an acronym for Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc., but now is officially known as JAMS.
These alternate dispute systems are supposed to be faster than traditional lawsuits. You see lots of agreements between businesses that provide that disputes will be resolved by some form of ADR.
There is a fair amount of controversy about whether these systems are in fact a better alternative. I know lawyers who strongly believe that they are not, and in fact are more time consuming and expensive than traditional lawsuits. I will explore this topic in future posts, but at least you now know that ADR means alternate dispute resolution.
Posted by Gideon on 05/18 at 06:41 PM
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Legalese Translator What Does Ex Parte Mean
Lawyers talk differently. They use legalese without explaining it. That's one reason why it's hard for many of their clients to understand them.
I recently attended a business breakfast at which a lawyer used the following phrase to describe litigation that he was handling for a client: "I went in ex parte."
Nothing like a little Greek or Latin at 8:00 in the morning.
Even though many highly educated professionals and business owners were present, very few had any idea what the phrase "ex parte" means.
So let's see what happens when we toss this phrase into the Legalese Translator:
"Ex Parte" rhymes with partay not part.
In the context of a law suit, it means going to court without giving notice to the other side. Generally speaking, any papers filled by a lawyer must be provided to the lawyer on the other side, and if the other side doesn't have a lawyer, to the other party or parties to the law suit. There are rare situations, however, where it might be impractical or unwise to give such notice. For example, letting the other side know you will be in court may give them the chance to hide or destroy evidence. That's what was going on in the law suit this particular attorney was describing. He was representing a company that was accusing a former employee of stealing client lists. The lawyer was trying to make clear that he handled the case aggressively. He went in to court without giving letting the other side know. That's what "going in ex parte" means.
