Civil Litigation

Motorcycling as an Analogy for the Practice of Law… Or Vice Versa

motorcycle legal case

Those who know me know that I love motorcycling. My 2000 Honda Goldwing “Blue Mistress” and I ride about 15,000 miles/year. To be fair, these are always working trips. I take the laptop. I take the Android. I spend a few hours each evening in the motel du jour catching up on calls and emails and briefs and memos.

motorcycle parked
The Blue Mistress at repose, Lincoln, Maine, 9/20/2017

In an odd way, I see my thousands of miles of riding; be it to the Keys in Spring or the Outer Banks in Summertime or New England or the Rockies in the Fall as an analogy to the practice of law. Follow me here. So many legal cases are a long and winding road. Civil litigation, divorces, custody battles can be a long haul, like riding to Key West or Bar Harbor, Maine. Conversely, criminal cases and some bankruptcies come and go pretty quickly; like a nice one-day 300-mile ride around Southeastern Ohio.

mark key west ballast
Mark and bike at the Key West Ballast, March 4, 2014

All cases have their risks, as does riding a motorcycle. Yet like riding my beloved 900-pound Goldwing, I see many folks gain satisfaction through the legal process. There can be bumps and obstacles in the pursuit of justice, like a closed road, a rainstorm, or a slug of bad gasoline on a ride. But in both cases, its often the pursuit of justice or the ride itself that provides the satisfaction, not just getting to the end.

For clients, they want positive outcomes, which of course is reasonable. However, I have been in this line of work long enough now to see that not all cases end in success. Don’t get me wrong. We win far more than we lose. Indeed, getting to a successful destination on a motorcycle, say Duval Street on Key West or Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks or Cabot’s Trail on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia is really gratifying, just as helping our clients complete an equitable divorce, a successful discharge of debts in a bankruptcy, or a reduced charge and no jail time in criminal defense.

motorcycle legal case
Mark and The Blue Mistress riding on Daytona Beach, Florida, March 2015

Aside from joys with my family, nothing beats the feel of a long motorcycle trip when the weather is wonderful and the bike feels like an appendage of my body. Likewise, nothing beats victory in court; seeing the tears of joy in a client’s eye when they realize they can move forward in his or her life. Keep moving forward!

mark bamberger riding
Picture was taken on Cabot’s Trail, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, 9/22/2017

Your Rights Once Arrested

rights-once-arrested

Increasingly, I am asked what I should do if and when I am arrested. This is a complicated issue, but let me explain the primary concepts; regardless of whether you are white or a person of color. This article is more detailed than most of my others, so take your time and read it thoroughly. Your freedom might depend on it! In short, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.

Initial Actions

When stopped by a police officer, keep your hands in plain site; preferably on the steering wheel. Take a deep breath as the cop arrives at the window and be as courteous as you can be. Cops are trained to be friendly on these stops and most are, so provide that respect back. Do not be sarcastic or mean when asked why you were stopped.[1]  If you have a gun or hunting knife in your vehicle, announce clearly when the cop arrives at the window that you have the weapon and in the case of a gun, a valid CCW Permit[2]. Hopefully this is true.

Plan ahead for this and have your ID, proof of insurance, and car registration readily accessible.  If you go to the glove compartment to retrieve these items, move slowly and narrate your actions to the cop as you go so there are no surprises. If you lack of one these documents, explain to the officer why.  If you license is under suspension, hopefully you will have a good reason why you are on the road, e.g., going to hospital due to a family emergency, etc.

The 4th Amendment

If the officer asks you to exit the vehicle, exit the vehicle. Need be you can attack the constitutionality of this request later. For now, do what is being asked. Case law is clear that government representatives generally have wide ranging rights to inspect or search your vehicle since vehicles can be driven away and hidden. Any part of the vehicle that is not considered a separate and locked compartment can be easily searched.  If you have a separate, locked safe or compartment in the vehicle, the cop must impound the vehicle and get a search warrant based on probable cause to access the locked compartment. You can ALWAYS challenge the constitutionality of the search under the 4th Amendment of the Constitution, administered to Ohio via the 14th Amendment. DO NOT try to argue this matter while at your vehicle. It will not end well and chances are the police officer will not be equipped to deal with the legality at that moment anyway, even though they are trained in this area at the Academy (we hope).

Search and Seizure and Terry Stops

If evidence is seized from the vehicle, it is important whether you are arrested or not.  Search and seizure incident to an arrest is easier for the State to defend than an “expedition mission” without an arrest.

As for your person, cops are always allowed to do a Terry Stop[3]. The search must be “reasonable” as legally defined, and limited to safeguarding the police officer/s. Excessive searches can lead to suppression of any weapons or other evidence searched and seized in a latter hearing.

Miranda Warnings

As for questioning, you can be arrested without being “Mirandized”.[4]  However, once you are “in custody”, you must be read your rights BEFORE being questioned.  If not, whatever you say can and should be suppressed and thrown out. Furthermore, any evidence found or produced after an illegal, custodial interrogation (be it at the car, in their car, or at their station)[5] can be challenged as “fruit from the poisonous tree”[6] and suppressed as well.

It is never a bad idea to provide NO answers as to the evidence or alleged offenses while you formally and audibly, yet respectfully, request a lawyer. This is your legal right and does not indicate that you are guilty of anything. An elderly family member once told me “…if I have nothing to hide, why should I not just answer questions right away”. Though innocence is presumed, not all cops are honest and they can openly lie to you to gain insight into a case. Sadly, as a defense attorney, I tell my clients to assume that the cops are not your friends in these specific instances and to SHUT UP until we get involved. Plus, though our Constitution is under attack right now, we must know and defend the Bill of Rights and our protections under the law.

This is but a thumb nail sketch of your rights and our suggestions on your expected behavior.  Be courteous, know your rights, and protect those rights so that your lawyer can provide the most effective representation to you down the road. We will add more detail in future articles. Feel free to contact me directly or chat with my staff on-line at www.bambergerlaw.com.



[1] Realize that a cop can stop you for pretty much any reason they choose; speeding, driving erratically, broken light, etc.  Your chances of getting charges thrown out merely on the probable cause for a stop is unlikely.

[2] In Ohio, you can transport a gun in your vehicle without a CCW, but in that case the ammo and gun must be kept in separate parts of the vehicle and not in easy access to the driver.

[3] This right is based on the seminal case of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), which allows government representatives to search your person reasonably to protect themselves against potential ambush or attack. This is in contrast to such programs as New York City’s Stop and Frisk, which was deemed discriminatory based on racial bias.

[4] Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) mandated the reading or your rights to remain silent and to legal counsel prior to formal custodian questioning.

[5] The concept of being “in custody” is a complex one, but as a very general rule, if a reasonable person would not feel the ability to simply walk away from the government agent/s, that person should consider him or herself “in custody” and therefore due related constitutional rights under the 5th and 14th Amendments. Custody in this context is synonymous with restraint of liberty and does not necessarily mean actual physical imprisonment.

[6] There is an extension of the exclusionary rule established in Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920). This doctrine holds that evidence gathered with the assistance of illegally obtained information must be excluded from trial. Thus, if an illegal interrogation leads to the discovery of physical evidence, both the interrogation and the physical evidence may be excluded, the interrogation because of the exclusionary rule, and the physical evidence because it is the “fruit” of the illegal interrogation. This doctrine is subject to three of important exceptions. The evidence will not be excluded (1) if it was discovered from a source independent of the illegal activity; (2) its discovery was inevitable; or (3) if there is attenuation between the illegal activity and the discovery of the evidence. Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963) is the seminal case that allowed “poisonous fruit” evidence to be suppressed.

Lawyering and Life

What is it like to be a lawyer? Well, it can suck. Alcohol and substance abuse among attorneys is among the highest of any profession.[1] The fact is that in so many cases it is hard to divorce ourselves (pardon the pun) from the pain and suffering of our clients. So many attorneys take that pain home with them and self-medicate. I am one of the few attorneys who would probably benefit from drinking more, but all joking aside this is a serious problem. Not only are lives ruined by such addiction, but the quality of representation to our clients can suffer. There is an entire branch of most bar associations to confidentially help attorneys with addiction.[2]

One of the most important skills your attorney can have is the ability to compartmentalize. I am occasionally asked how I can represent alleged rapist and thieves, people going through a contested divorce or custody dispute or disastrous bankruptcy. The answer is that I can usually compartmentalize. My wife Lynne and my daughters are happy for this. Many testimonials on our web site (www.bambergerlaw.com) talk about my compassion and demonstrated concern for client problems and worries. That is great to hear, but is also quite true. I do honestly care and those are not just words, but shown again and again by my staff and my actions.

Not all lawyers do care. Many get into the business for personal gain; to grab that corner office doing only transactional law and never see the inside of a courtroom. Others literally do ‘chase ambulances’ and feast on others’ misfortunes. These are the attorneys that give this incredibly noble profession its bad name. Yet, attorneys and their management of the common law is the foundation of our society. When Shakespeare wrote. “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”,[3] he was not disparaging the profession, but in context saying that attorneys are the basis on which cordial and regulated society works. I take that stuff seriously.

As many of you know, law is my second career. I was an environmental geologist for 18 years before going to law school. I went to law school evenings while teaching at two colleges during the day and helping to raise three daughters. For me, it was never about money, though getting paid for my time and expertise is nice too. Seeing the tears of joy in client’s eyes when they realize their debt problems are behind them, an ugly divorce is over, a criminal mistake is not going to end their life, or their horrid employment issue is handled brings me satisfaction and joy.

On The Blue Mistress, my beloved 2000 Honda Goldwing motorcycle, I try vigorously not to think about work (sorry folks). However, when I do, I see the faces and expressions of the clients TMBC has been able to help. It makes me smile as the hundreds of motorcycle miles fly by.

MJB, Dayton, Ohio 3/2017

[1] See for example http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/lawyers-struggle…, March 22, 2013

[2] In Ohio, the State Bar Association has the Lawyers Assistance Program (www.ohiolap.org).

[3] shakespeare.mit.edu/2henryvi/2henryvi.4.2.html, cited from Henry VI, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 2

 

The Law and Crashing your Harley

Lawyer motorcycle accident legal representation

Mark J. Bamberger, Esq., Owner/Attorney at Law

THE MARK BAMBERGER CO., LLC*

*Offices in Tipp City, West Chester, Enon, and Spring Valley, Ohio

 

It had just rained as I piloted my beloved, rebuilt 1990 Harley Sportster 886 between Mason and Spring Valley, Ohio.  After more than a decade and 25,000 some odd miles of riding without one mishap, I was truly comfortable with my motorcycling skills. I dare say I felt more comfortable on my bike seat than on my couch that wet Sunday afternoon.  That all changed in an instant.

 

As I slowed (far too slowly as I came to realize too late) to take a wet sharp turn, the rear tire was out from under me before I knew what was happening.  I would like to braggingly recount that as I fell I examined the various legal ramifications of my on-going mishap.  So often, as people have realized for themselves, when suffering through an accident, time slows down.  Yet here, as I fell to the pavement, I distinctly remember myself thinking “Gee, why am I falling to the pavement?”  There was nothing more and nothing less.  That’s all that was there; nothing philosophical, nothing legally engaging, just the simple fact that from one second to the next, I was contemplating blacktop hitting my body like a hammer.

 

As motorcycle accidents go, this was relatively minor.  There were no broken bones; x-rays confirmed that the next morning.  A month on, my shoulder is still sore and movement is restricted and the road rash on my knee is still heeling.  However, the legal implications are becoming clearer to my mind.  No police officer was there that day to cite me for “Failing to Control”.  One of the three kind onlookers who came running to help me asked if I had insurance. ‘If not, you better get going”, was his apparently experienced advice.  I did have insurance, so was not concerned as I got assistance righting the bike and starting her back up.  All my motorcycles and cars are “hers”; don’t ask – it’s a guy thing.  Yes, I did then  ride the bike home.  In fact, at first I only saw a bloody knee as the prize for my erroneous actions.  “I could hide this from my family and save them the concern”, I honestly thought.  Only later that evening did an ever-more throbbing shoulder and side signal otherwise.

 

Later, I was asked if there was a potential civil action against the tire manufacturer?  I responded “No, but there should be one against its operator for negligence”.  Indeed the accident was almost entirely my own fault.  Due to rushing to get home in the rain; perhaps?  Due to failure to identify a wet turn fast enough; almost certainly.  Due to letting my tires get low on air; maybe.  Due to a deficient bike wheel; not so much.

 

There are attorneys who sue anyone about anything at the drop of a hat.  But the attitude at The Mark Bamberger Company is that our society gets the lawyers (and politicians and doctors) they deserve.  If people weren’t so litigious, there would not be a legal bar to cater to them.  Law suits serve a valuable purpose in society and we pursue many of them at the law firm.  Yet in many cases, seeing the inside of a courtroom is an indication for an attorney of failure; a sign that he or she was not able to settle a dispute reasonably, equitably, and also inexpensively.  In the case at bar, there was no one to sue, although my family members were undoubtedly considering an action against me for negligence and infliction of emotional distress on them for my stupidity.  The bubble of security in which my family members lived while I rode all those thousands of miles had been pierced and might never inflate fully again.  For those who consider themselves serious motorcycle riders; it is a fever that gets into your soul and bones.  The meditation of a quiet ride on an empty country road; smelling the smells, feeling the micro-climatic changes, feeling the freedom of speed and the road, the vibration of power between your knees – hard to explain to the non-rider.  Like all failures, this was a learning experience for me.  I think I lost about eight years of riding confidence that Sunday afternoon and am gaining it back very slowly.  A little fear is a good thing, right?  I took to the bike the very next weekend for a 175 mile ride with my motorcycle club.  I wanted to get back on the horse before my mind went to work on my actions.  Most importantly, the damage to the Harley was minimal and quickly repaired, sans a few new scratches I keep as battle scars.

 

They say that there are two types of riders; those who have laid down their bike and those who will.  A dear friend and far-more experienced rider told me afterwards that all of his motorcycle accidents were largely his own fault.  I then asked myself if I should taking advice from someone who speaks about “motorcycle accidents” in the plural!  The takeaway – from a legal perspective, sometimes you just own the event and your actions therein – and move on.

 

MJB  8/13/12

When “Being Done Wrong” is not enough in court?

We get clients come into The Mark Bamberger Co., LLC almost daily with perfectly good (sounding) cases. They have been wronged! There is little doubt from the passion of how they relate their story that they have been wronged; and further that they indeed deserve justice in an Ohio or Federal court. My staff and I listen to client cases and empathize. But remember the old adage “…if you want a friend, buy a dog”? Welcome to our system of justice; in all its splendor and candor. Although Lady Justice is blind and wielding a sword along with scales; if you look closely, she is also bruised, cut, and bleeding.

This is not easy business. The rate of alcoholism is about as high for attorneys as for any other profession besides professional drinkers and bar flies. It is hard to be empathetic and supportive on one side, but also equally realistic about the odds of winning any particular case on the other. The difference between “being wronged” and being able to prove in a court of law (be it criminal, civil, or domestic) that a client was wronged to the proper legal standard is no business for the faint of heart.

I tell my staff that the most important aspect of being a good lawyer (besides basic competence) is the ability to tell the truth. That means not only telling the truth to judges or fellow attorneys, but perhaps hardest of all telling the truth to crying clients who plead for the “launching of their judicial armada”. The litigation process is long and painful. Having said that, when there is a case to be won, we here at The Mark Bamberger Co., LLC go after the bad guys with passion and all the weapons at our disposal. The joy of that is that we usually represent the “little guy” against corporations, governments, and so on. The victories are sweet and we have won far more than lost. But loss is part of the equation that must be considered throughout the litigation process (see past articles on civil litigation and criminal defense).

The bottom line is that all clients want a legal champion, but at times what they need is the straight truth about the pros and cons of their case and a candid analysis of the chance of victory. If their definition of victory is realistic, we can often make it happen.

MJB 4/14/10

The “Civil” Side of Litigation


So What’s So Civil About It?
“Civil Litigation” seems to be an oxymoron. How can suing someone in any federal or state court be civil in any way, shape, or form be civil? In fact, in legal jargon most of litigation falls under the broad umbrella of “civil”. Most anything that is not criminal or domestic or probate is probably considered civil. Medical malpractice, common law torts such as breach of contract, defamation, negligence, intentional infliction of emotion distress, and unfair business practice are civil suits. The term “civil” is not always appropriate, as civil litigation can be contentious and painful to endure if you are on the defendant’s side and complex and time-intensive if you are on the plaintiff’s side. The following is how civil suits typically work.

Choosing a Litigator
Let’s say you want to sue someone. The first thing to do is to find an attorney, like for example me. These days roughly 30-35% of my practice is civil litigation. Whether me or not, it is efficient, if not quite important to find an attorney who can provide you “turn-key service”, meaning do everything from initial consultation to trial room litigation. Many attorneys shy away from the courtroom, or are even phobic about it. The “one-stop shop” approach makes sense for civil litigation since the process can be long and changing lawyers midstream can make it much longer yet. You want someone aggressive and assertive, but not overly off-putting. Practicing law, especially in litigation, can be as much about the subtle and timely offer as the overwhelming oration.

Clients should feel free to ask for references or about a litigator’s experience. Though I am happy to talk about my success rate, that can be deceiving, especially for someone who takes on difficult cases. Plus, defining “success” can be tricky, as examined further below. Ok, enough for the shameless Mark Bamberger Law Company plug.

Evaluating the Validity of Your Case
Once you have chosen an attorney who you can trust, the next step is, or should be, the debriefing. Here the client tells his or her story to the lawyer so he or she can evaluate the validity of the lawsuit. One of the hardest jobs in my practice is explaining to my clients the difference between being wronged in life and being able to prove being wronged in a civil court of law. Almost daily at Bamberger Law, I have good people in my offices who tell stories of dread and pain. I empathize, I sympathize, I feel their pain. But they have their family, friends, and family pets for that. What they need from me is experience and a cold and calculating view of their case for its legal validity. Some find this harsh, but it is important. Ethics prohibit an attorney, as an officer of the court, from filing what is defined as a “frivolous” law suit. That term is ill-defined, but in general it means a lawsuit without substance; one that cannot reasonable be proven. It does not mean “likely winnable”, as some suits I file are likely to fail. However, there is a minimal standard that the evidence of the case can lead, if reasonable minds see it objectively, as supporting my client. The standard of proof in a civil case is a “preponderance of the evidence”, meaning more likely than not. This is opposed to the criminal standard of reasonable doubt, which is far higher.

The evaluation of the validity of a civil lawsuit has a dual purpose. Many times at The Mark Bamberger Company I represent a “David” against a “Goliath”. This not always the case, but where it is, I often provide the option of doing the on contingency. That means that the client pays for the filing fee (typically between $200-350), along with depositional and expert witness fees down the road, but I pay for the rest. The rest could mean literally hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars of resources to litigation a case. Mindful of that, if take a case on contingency I have to believe that there is at least a decent chance of a settlement or payout at the end. As is typical in this region of the country, my cut of any final settlement is around 33%, while my take rises to around 50% if the case heads toward and ends up in trial. There can also be what I call a “mixed contingence” option, where the client pays me a retainer upfront, but my percentages at the end go down. These percentages seem high to some clients, but consider how much I get if we lose…nothing! Contingency in civil litigation is a high risk/high reward proposition. Many attorneys require a retainer up front, ranging from $500-$5,000 to take a civil case. I generally do not, which is part of why my civil practice remains busy while some others are stagnant these days.

I discuss with my clients their definition of “victory”. Depending on their honest and heart-felt answer, I can craft a legal strategy with the greatest chance of getting them there. If it involves getting their job back or a nice severance package, one approach might be appropriate. If a massive monetary settlement or finding is mandated, another strategy altogether might be indicated. This is also where experience with jury findings and knowledge of the “true value of damages” comes in. I can honestly counsel my clients on what they can expect and how much a case is “worth” in the eyes of the federal or state legal systems. Their sense of what a victory looks like also informs out decision down the road if and when a settlement is offered.

The Step 2 Letter
Once your attorney and you decide that civil litigation is the right path, the first step might be what I term a ‘Step 2 letter”. This is a letter under my company letterhead that explains to the other side what trouble they might be in. It specifically explains where my client alleges they perpetrated an offense. Finally, it allows them the opportunity to negotiate a settlement and save both sides the next 12-18 months of civil litigation. Justice happens, but it is not fast. Clients have to realize that if they sue someone, unless the other side settles quickly (which happens in maybe 5-10% of the cases), my clients will be looking at a year or more before they get even close to the end. I have one federal $1M civil case going on two years without sign of a quick conclusion. The Step 2 letter allows a quick and satisfactory ending and is worth an extra month of time to try, as long as my client thinks there is even a chance the defendant-to-be will see the error of his, her, or their way.

The Complaint
Assuming Step 2 fails, which is usually does, the civil complaint is drafted. I will often ask my client to write a bullet-pointed chronology of the events, in as much detail as possible. This does two things: first it provides me with the facts that I need; and second, it forces the client to put in some sweat equity into the work that is coming. With that detail and a thorough review of the case with my client, I am ready to write. I have numerous complaint templates I can use, but the guts of a civil complaint are the causes of action (what the defendants allegedly did), the elements of each cause of action, and the application of the pertinent facts to the elements to make the case for that cause of action. This is where the attorney’s knowledge of the client, the facts of the case, and the appropriate causes of action to include comes into play.

After the complaint is drafted, I always, and I mean always, send the draft to the client to review. In my view, this step is critical. For one thing, I wrote and will file the complaint, but I am speaking for my client, so he or she must be able to stand behind everything in that complaint, to the best of their memory, knowledge, and ability. Once I get comments and edits from my client, I make those changes, collect the filing fee from them, and file the complaint with the appropriate court. If there are federal questions involved, such as alleged constitutional violations like free speech, discrimination, and so on, it goes to federal court. Even if there are State common law torts like negligence involved, the federal courts have first claim under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. If no federal issues are expected, the Common Pleas Court of the appropriate county is where the complaint is filed. If the value of the claim is small (usually less than $5,000 in total), it goes to municipal Small Claims Court. Most of those are done pro se (by the client themselves) since it is not cost effective to get me involved.

Once the Complaint is filed, the Defendants are served, either via certified mail or personal delivery. They then have roughly a month to file an “Answer”, which is just that. They must affirm, deny, or affirm with comment each and every claim made in the Complaint. Often, there is a time expansion granted, so two months are allowed. Once the Answer if filed, the court takes the case onto docket and calls for a case management conference. At this conference, the opposing attorneys agree with the court to a schedule for the case. The schedule usually deadlines for the completion of: (1) discovery, including interrogatories (questions to the other side), depositions, and the exchange of evidence; (2) mediation, a court-overseen, objective meeting where the two sides can haggle and hopefully decide on settlement (3) a pre-trial conference, where opposing attorneys give an update to the presiding on potential settlement, trial procedure, and the witnesses and evidence to be presented; and finally (4) trial. The plaintiff gets to choose whether the case is tried to the bench (the judge alone) or to a jury. It is usually, not always, better for the “David” to try to a jury, for any number of reasons.

The discovery phase of litigation is often the most time-consuming and painful for the parties. It involves answering difficult and at times embarrassing questions, both in written and oral form during depositions, providing documents, and generally assessing your own and your opponent’s case. Sadly, it is often during discovery that a weak case falls apart. Evidence that appears at the outset to be dispositive and compelling can, on detailed inspection, be minimal, scant, and downright weak. It is important to realize that the plaintiffs have the heavy burden of proving their case. The standard of proof is not as high as for the prosecutor proving criminal guilt, but it is still the plaintiff who must prove civil liability.

It is true that somewhere over 80% of civil cases never see the inside of a courtroom. There are myriad opportunities to settle, from both sides of the aisle. The system is structured to encourage settlement. In fact, settlement discussions or offers are generally inadmissible during a trial since the court system wants people to settle cases without fear that their open-handed discussions will be turned against them at trial.

The Trial (not the existentialist novel written by Franz Kafka)
Assuming a case makes it to trial, which again most here do not, a civil jury must be chosen through a process called voir dire. Here, tons of lucky, tax-paying citizens are called for jury duty and called into the courtroom. Eight at a time they are placed in the jury box where the opposing attorneys, along with possibly the judge, ask questions about their fitness to serve on the jury for that case. Conflicts of interest or other biases can be identified and used to eliminate jurors. There is a certain strategy to seating the best possible jury. In Ohio, civil courts seat eight jurors instead of 12 for criminal cases. Of those eight, six have to vote for your side for a trial victory, as opposed to all 12 unanimously in criminal trials. Once the eight are seated, the trial begins. Typical civil trials last between 1-3 days, but can go on far longer if the case is complex and there are many witnesses to be called. Here, evidence is review, based on the pertinent Rules of Evidence, witnesses are examined and cross-examined, and opening and closing statements are offered by each side. Think Law & Order, but usually less exciting and dramatic since civil cases are not about murder, rape, assisted suicide, and the like.

The Bottom Line
In closing, most attorneys who I battle in civil litigation are honest and honorable. We battle tooth and nail, then have a drink and talk about our families and fantasy football. Indeed it can be “civil”. Yet all clients must go into civil litigation with eyes wide open as to the time and effort involved, and have realistic expectations regarding total victory.

MJB 1/10/10

Bamberger Featured Guest on Get Social Radio

Attorney Mark Bamberger was recently a featured guest on the Get Social Radio Show, a nationally syndicated internet radio show broadcast from downtown Tipp City, Ohio.

Bamberger shared stories of what motivated him to start his practice of law as well as his background with bankruptcy, criminal, environmental and civil litigation. Hosts of the Get Social Radio Show, Mike McDermott and Greg Enslen asked Mark about a current case that was reported in the Dayton Daily News. In this case, Mr. Bamberger is defending a local professor at Edison State who is a plaintiff in a case of unlawful dismissal, as well as the breach of a constitutional statute (Ohio’s Sunshine Law). As this show was the final broadcast of the year for the radio hosts and since it was only two days before holiday break, the three fathers closed the show with a reading of the ‘Night Before Christmas’.

Click here to listen to the entire broadcast in your media player of choice.

This episode was also recorded on video, you can watch by visiting the Get Social Radio website here.

Civil Litigation

As our client, you may be experiencing a legal dispute with another party that seeks monetary damages or specific performance rather than criminal sanctions. The Mark Bamberger Law Co. LLC represent our clients in trials, hearings, arbitration and mediation before administrative agencies, and federal, state and local courts.

The Mark Bamberger Law Co. LLC manages a broad range of disputes.  Several common types of civil litigation include:

* Landlord/Tenant
* Products Liability
* Personal injury
* Construction
* Medical Malpractice
* Employment & Labor
* Real Estate
* Anti-Trust
* Intellectual Property
* Environmental
* Worker’s Compensation

Since civil litigation is an adversarial process, litigation attorneys and paralegals from The Mark Bamberger Law Co. LLC assume an oppositional position and embrace conflict and controversy. We often work long hours, especially during trial, and perform occasional travel, always to ensure that your case is handled with the most favored outcome in mind.

We handle all seven stages of the civil litigation process: investigation, pleadings, discovery, pre-trial, trial, settlement and appeal. Please be aware, not every lawsuit passes through each stage of litigation; most lawsuits are settled prior to trial and many cases that reach a trial verdict are not appealed.

The lifespan of a lawsuit can range from several months to several years. Complex civil litigation often takes years to pass from pre-suit investigation through trial/settlement.

We have found that discovery can be the longest and most labor-intensive stage of civil litigation. Contrary to the images portrayed by television, civil litigators spend very little time in trial; most of our time is actually devoted to the discovery stage of litigation.