Litigation needs sufficiency, not truth, to proceed

Evidence

In the beginning, the truth had been obscured by a web of lies, evasions, and self-serving accounts from both workers and Grace executives. In the end, it still remained hidden by death and the vagaries of memory. But for Schlichtmann’s purposes, it really made little difference whether there had been two pits or three or four. He had uncovered more than enough to make his case. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 976

Categorization

• APHORISMS: A working rule for anyone chasing an unknowable past: stop at enough, not at the whole.
• DEEPTHINKING: The adversarial system’s operative standard is evidentiary sufficiency, not truth — and the lawyer knows it, and proceeds anyway.
• XREF: connects to: The conversation of justice must not have a victor — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 345; The criminal defense needs only create reasonable doubt, not prove its own facts. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 853; Civil plaintiffs need only show a claim is more likely true than not. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action , 1301 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Civil plaintiffs need only show a claim is more likely true than not. #expands (0.85) — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 1301
• Appellate courts must accept a fact-finder’s findings even when wrong #exemplifies (0.75) — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 388