What is my role, as the client, in putting the case together?
Jeff: You need to be actively involved in the development of your case, and we will keep you involved in every aspect of it. The early stages of the case have a lot to do with developing facts outside of the litigation process and so your help is critical in allowing us do that.
Frank: Typically if a lawsuit is filed the client is going to be responsible for helping us gather information, answer some written discovery that is produced by the other side. They will be asked to provide a deposition testimony, but we will spend all the time we need to to help the client prepare for the deposition.
Jeff: Almost all courts order us to mediation at this point. A mediation is a formal settlement meeting generally it is attended by all of the attorneys and all of the parties involved.
Frank: Some cases settle in mediation, a lot do, but some don't and our commitment to the client is that they will be the ones making the decision on whether or not the case settles.
Jeff: We like to get to know our clients. We typically tell our clients that we keep a coffee pot on here in the office so if you come through the door of our law firm, if we're here and we're available, we'll sit down and talk with you.