Delays imposed by opposing counsel can bankrupt a small-firm plaintiff’s lawyer

Evidence

After four months of work, he felt prepared for trial. He struggled to get a trial date in the crowded state courts while Clem McCarthy requested and received one continuance after another. With each delay, Schlichtmann went back to the case and worked some more. By the end of seven months, he had spent fifteen thousand dollars on the case, most of it borrowed. He was deeply in debt. The lawbook company dunned him. His landlord threatened to evict him. Creditors called constantly. His part-time secretary, Kathy Boyer, was working full-time for no pay. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 248

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Milgrom material on how procedural rules and cost-bearing shape who can actually access justice. — connects to: Litigating a contingency case can bankrupt the lawyer who files it. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action , 17; Resource asymmetry between parties lets well-funded defendants win through delay — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2156; Personal financial ruin drives plaintiffs’ lawyers toward settlement more than legal merit does. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action , 2739

Broader Connections

• Personal financial ruin drives plaintiffs’ lawyers toward settlement more than legal merit does. #expands (0.90) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 2739
• Litigating a contingency case can bankrupt the lawyer who files it. #expands (0.85) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 17
• Resource asymmetry between parties lets well-funded defendants win through delay #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2156