Litigation Is Adversarial, But It Doesn’t Have to Be Hostile

Defense counsel recently had an issue with a late answer where they calendared 30 days for the answer deadline instead of 21 days since it was a federal case.

I had zero problem giving them more time to answer and didn’t even think twice about it.

Why?

1. They reached out to me prior to that and were not a-holes. (I still would have given them more time if they were jerks, but it helped that they were pleasant and professional).
2. They clearly demonstrated an intent to defend the case (i.e. it is not like they were intentionally dilatory).
3. The judge would have given them more time anyways and not held them in default.
4. I do have an obligation to my client, but I’m not going to try to make life harder for an attorney who made a simple mistake that will have a 99% chance of being corrected anyways. All it would do is mess up his relationship with his client and make his life miserable. And for what?

Litigation is adversarial by nature but it doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk or be difficult for the sake of being difficult.

And yet, some lawyers engage in needless procedural gamesmanship and make everyone’s lives unnecessarily difficult. Maybe it is because they aren’t actually good on the substance or maybe they just have sensitive egos and need to act that way to feel better about themselves.

You can still be a zealous advocate for your client and show some grace to another attorney in a situation like this, even if they’re on the other side. In fact, I think it makes you a better lawyer because it streamlines the case and allows you to focus on what actually matters.

Would you have given the defense more time? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.