In a personal injury case, acting for the Plaintiff, we fought for three and a half days with about a day and a half still to go, when we settled. When the settlement was announced to the judge he asked for the figure at which we settled. On learning it, (he should not have asked and on asking should have been met with a demurrer) he remarked it was IR£30,000 too much.
It was a moment of pure (unfair) competition. The parties had struggled for three and a half days and now the judge had leaped into the forensic arena, cuffing the Defendantâs lawyers.
The apotheosis of competition was the chariot racing in ancient Rome.
There were four teams, identified by the colours red, white, blue, green. When the Emperor Domitian introduced Purples and Golds, they endured only for the residue of his reign.
Life expectancy for the drivers and the horses was short.
At least in the practice of civil law we do not run those risks, and although a law suit can be a contact and spectator sport it is possible to encounter a law suit that is just pure fun.
The âAssociation of Trial Lawyers of Americaâ? changed their name to the âAmerican Association for Justiceâ?. (There is an essay waiting to be written on that alone).
Some non-AAJ lawyers then formed âThe Association of Trial Lawyers of Americaâ? whereupon the AAJ issued proceedings against TheATLA to prevent them from misleading the public (presumably among other things).
How can you lose in following that case?