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Summary: This
book will save you THOUSANDS of dollars and years of regret.
Can you avoid an expensive lawsuit to settle your dispute?
Here, an attorney and a judge say, "Yes!" The
Pocket Lawyer is an easy-to-use guide to resolve your
legal dispute without attorneys or courts. The timing of this
book is perfect. Nationwide, courts are reforming, pointing
litigants toward private mediation and arbitration. This book's
valuable one-of-a-kind point system evaluates your case and
directs you through the best door to resolve your dispute
-- at a fraction of the time and cost. It's for anyone with
a legal problem: individual and business. It's the way of
the Twenty First century.
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Best Reviews:
CNBC-TV: "Think you need a lawyer to settle your dispute?
The Pocket Lawyer shows you how to avoid high fees and do
it on your own."
CBN-TV, The 700 Club, by Pat Robertson: "attorney Marilyn
Sullivan reveals successful secrets for settling out of court.
The Pocket Lawyer will save you a great deal of anguish and
huge amounts of money."
Good Morning America, Tx., "Who needs a live lawyer
when you have The Pocket Lawyer?" |
Why Do You Need This Book?
A war is raging in this country. It's independent
of the armed forces. We don't read about it in the daily news, or
hear about it on television. The battlefield is in your own back
yard: every courtroom in every city of the United States.
Each year, 14.5 million civil cases are filed nationwide. This creates
well over thirty million plaintiffs and defendants. Each is a casualty
- winners and losers alike - bearing financial and emotional scars.
The cost in dollars: at least $88 billion a year to legal fees and
expenses. The cost in quality time and energy: three to five years.
The toll in stress and strain: several years of ongoing conflict
and anxiety. The result:
"Those disputing, contradicting, and confuting
people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory,
sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more
use to them."
-Benjamin Franklin (1706-90)
Perfect Timing for This Book
Today's court system is a war fueled by conflict
and destructive tactics. It strikes emotional and financial blows.
It is a mix of inconsistent results for which disputing parties
pay dearly. But our legal system has now begun to crack under these
pressures. Overbooked, understaffed, and unable to keep pace, the
courts now call upon alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for help.
This calling has been answered! For the first time
in history, out-of-court systems are in place to effectively answer
the needs of disputing parties. For centuries, all we had was the
expensive, complicated, delay-plagued court system. At long last,
the age of legal reform has arrived - and with it, powerful new
alternative dispute resolution systems: mediation and arbitration.
The Court System Turns a Page
We deal with our medical and emotional problems on
an immediate basis. Generally, the problem comes up, we deal with
it and move on. Legal problems have been different. Trapped in the
court system, you were stuck in your dispute for the three to five
years it took to get to trial. As time marched on, so did attorney
fees. You couldn't get away from the escalating expense, delay,
and stress.
On top of that, decisions received after years of
waiting were inconsistent, at best. The court just didn't have the
time or attention to produce a quality result. The end product:
disputing parties spent valuable years and precious savings to obtain
results that were less than equitable.
Time is of the essence with our legal problems, too.
They need to be dealt with as they arise. Now, you have the option
to resolve your dispute without waiting years for the court's attention.
This book gives you a set of tools to resolve your dispute now,
using these new out-of-court systems - and to get better results.
You Can Handle Your Dispute Yourself
With the tools in this book, you can resolve your
legal problem immediately and more effectively. You no longer have
to wait years for justice. These new out-of-court systems are built
for simplicity, efficiency, and economy. They are designed for use
by disputing parties themselves. We show you how to use them and
what to expect.
What is it about the alternative dispute resolution
process that gives you better results than the courts do? ADR systems
have the time to fully hear and decide your case. They operate unimpaired
by the restrictions of the publicly funded court system. There are
no court calendar limits. And you control the funding. It makes
a huge difference in the results.
Now, for the first time ever, you can realistically
move ahead with your dispute without an attorney. Armed with these
new and powerful legal tools, you will find rapid and better legal
solutions. Indeed, you have more important things to do than to
spend vast amounts of your time and energy consumed with your legal
dispute!
It all sounds like a dream come true. The skeptic
steps in and asks, "What about legal case evaluation? That's
the one thing I can't do myself." With this book, that very
important gap has been bridged. The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer, at Chapter
6 and available as software, evaluates your case for you.
The Pocket Lawyer analyzer
Whether you choose to represent yourself or not,
you need the benefit of legal analysis. It's the key to your case,
enabling you to make your best legal decisions. To this end we have
developed an empowering system so that you, the reader, can analyze
your own legal problem and take charge of it yourself. We have appropriately
named our system The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer. This powerful interactive
program applies a point system so you quickly and accurately assess
the feasibility of your own potential legal problem. And our system
is the only one of its kind!
Its seven easy steps provide you with a case assessment
that will clearly spell out whether you should bring a legal action,
and, if so, where you should bring it - in the court system, or
outside it. The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer is easy to use and surprisingly
accurate. In fact, some of the leading insurers may be using this
program right now to value their insureds' cases. The Pocket Lawyer
Analyzer can take the place of your lawyer, and the cost is a drop
in the bucket when compared to just one hour of lawyer time. Of
course, with some disputes you may still want to retain a lawyer
- but with the aid of Chapter 13, How to Hire a Lawyer: Insider
Tips, you'll know exactly which questions to ask to hire the best
representative for your case. You'll feel far more in charge of
the meeting - you are the boss, as you should be.
The Authors
This book is written by a team with impressive credentials.
Marilyn D. Sullivan is a lawyer who has met the challenge of solving
and settling legal problems in and out of court. She knows the legal
system inside out and has seen it working, for better and for worse,
for more than two decades. Our consultant is retired California
Superior Court Judge E. Warren McGuire, who shares his unique and
insightful perspective, derived from 20 years of experience on the
bench and 18 years' prior experience as an attorney advocate. In
recent years, both Ms. Sullivan and Retired Judge McGuire have helped
litigants resolve their own disputes outside the courts through
alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration.
These team players have joined together to pass on to you the wisdom
they've accumulated from over a half century of combined professional
experience.
Introduction 1
1 Solving Your Legal Problem: A Better Route 3
Self-Help Works! · The Costly Dump Truck Syndrome ·
Lawyers Cure Only Half the Problem · Legal Intimidation ·
How Much Justice Can You Afford? · Lady Justice and Her Scales
· Justice Is Not Exact · Unpredictable Court Results
· The Answer Is ADR
2 Alternative Dispute Resolution: A Better Way 25
Why Use Alternative Dispute Resolution? · Complicated Rules
and Regulations · Did You Know You Can Reduce Expenses in
Your Case? · Two Popular Methods To Solve Your Legal Problem
· The Difference Between Mediation and Arbitration ·
The Road After ADR
3 Mediation: The Wave of the Future 39
The Secret of Mediation's Success · Success Is A Matter
of Timing · What is The Goal of Mediation? · The Mediator's
Role · Why Mediate, If I'm Right? · When Should You
Mediate? · How Do You Get To Mediation? · Should You
Hire A Lawyer For Your Mediation?
4 Arbitration: Justice at a Fraction of the Cost 57
Differences Between Mediation, Arbitration, and Court ·
Why Arbitrate? You'll button Down Your Hearing Date · How
Do You Arrive at Arbitration Door? · How Do You Choose an
Arbitrator? · What is the Arbitration Process? · What
After Arbitration? · Which System Does Better?
5 Last Chance: Settle Your Dispute Right Now 77
Heading Off the Inevitable · You're At A Crossroads ·
Stop The Tug of War · Questions Are Opportunities ·
You're Solving A Common Problem · Settlement Is Not A One
Time Proposition · Is Someone Else About To Control Your
Dispute · Persuading With Facts
6 The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer®: Identify Your Case Feasibility
95
The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer: Your Tool For Legal Analysis ·
What Is The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer? · The Steps Of The Pocket
Lawyer Analyzer · Put A Dollar Value On Your Case ·
Avoiding Negative Results · The Bottom Line Results Of The
Pocket Lawyer Analyzer
7 Using The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer® 121
Guide To Defining Your Duties · Getting Help From A Lawyer
· No Damages = No Responsibility · Does Your Damage
Specifying Provision Apply? · Liquidated Damages ·
What Can You Claim As Damages · Net Recovery Standards ·
Calculating Your Time
8 The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer® In Action 157
Reference Tool · The Case Of The crafty Computer Consultant
· The Case Of The Daredevil Skier · The Case Of Mr.
Shifty, The Suspect Seller · The Case Of the Tardy Author
· Summary Of Four Examples
9 Suddenly You're a Defendant 189
The Two Major Forums · The Pocket Lawyer Analyzer For Defendants
· Small Claims Court · The Multi-Step ADR Method ·
An Attorney Fee Provision Gets Everyone's Attention · Stipulated
Judgments · Hiring An Attorney · The Pocket Lawyer
Program For Defendants
10 Mediation Mechanics: Your Key To Success 215
Your Mediation: Keys To Success · Your Lawyer's Role ·
The American Arbitration Association: The Quality Low Cost Provider
· Negotiation Sessions · An End To The Battle ·
Case Examples: Creative Mediated Settlements · What If You
Don't Settle At Mediation?
11 The Arbitration Arena: Your Keys To Success 241
How Do You Get To Arbitration · AAA's Arbitrator Selection
Method · Hiring A Lawyer For Your Arbitration: How To Decide
· The Arbitration In Progress: Procedures · Differences
From The Court Trial · Non-appealability: What Are Its Advantages
12 Loss Prevention: Heading Off Disputes 261
The Loss prevention Terms You Need · How To Introduce Your
Loss Provisions Into A Contract · Without An Attorney Fees
Provision The Winner Can Be A Loser · A Broader Attorney
Fees Provision · A Sample Arbitration Provision ·
A Sample Mediation Provision
13 How to Hire a Lawyer: Insider Tips 287
When Should You Hire A Lawyer? · A Lawyer's Role For Your
Small Claims Case · Your Lawyer Interview Checklist ·
Contingent Fee Structures · Flat Fee Agreement For Specific
Services · Estimates For Litigation · Strategy and
Cost Control Sessions ·
14 If You Must: How To Make The Most Of The Court System 311
Your Best Result: Settlement · Attorney Representation ·
Four Keys To Success In Court · Get Your Best Small Claims
Result · Procedure At The Hearing · Your Keys To Success
In The Trial Courts · How To Start An Action In The Trial
Court System · When Will You Go To Trial?
Appendix 333
Glossary 348
Index 353
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this Book
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