LITIGATION AND DECISION MAKING
Forbes Magazine published an article, as they tend to do at this time of year, on secrets to getting more done in the coming year. Many of the suggestions apply equally well to the management of litigation and the analysis of legal actions as they do to every other business.
If you have ever been accused of being a perfectionist, over-analytical, or overly cautious, then you will understand exactly what I am talking about. Generally being a lawyer means being careful, not jumping to conclusions, certainly not making rash decisions, but carefully weighing up the options and in most cases, avoiding risk. It is generally why lawyers make average business people. Entrepreneurs tend to see their dream vision and go hell for leather for it, whereas lawyers tend to see what could go wrong and either decline the opportunity or mull over it for an eon.
That’s not to say lawyers don’t make good decisions. On the contrary they tend to make very good decisions, but they tend to be carefully weighed, carefully considered, thought out, but not quickly.
All litigation benefits from careful well thought out decisions and many parties to litigation fail in their litigation simply because they have not given enough thought to the decisions involved in the litigation process, or indeed their lawyer has not given them the time, or does not have the expertise to advise and help them in the right direction. It is extremely important to pick a lawyer who is experienced in litigation and in the field of your problem in order to attain the best possible result.
Finally, on a separate rant. Give the problem your undivided attention when you are weighing up the options and formulating the decision making process. Unplug from all the technology that keeps you connected. I am a big fan of gadgets and technology and I have lots of them, including cupboards full of last year’s and the years before models. I am a fan of multi-tasking where it assists the processes. However, there is a time to surf and a time to actually think. Multi-tasking can make it hard to focus on the right information at the right time, and impossible to think through the implications.
The simple rule for your meeting is that if a meeting isn’t worth unplugging for, it is definitely not worth having. If you are invited to it and you don’t want to unplug or turn off your mobile, or not check your emails every five seconds, don’t bother going. And if you are the organiser cancel the meeting!
After all, that email will wait half an hour until you are finished…….
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