History of Houston Litigation

I am excited about adding a blog to my website.  It will give me an opportunity to comment on recent developments in my fields of practice as well as issues relating to the legal world in general.

Before addressing more current matters, however, I want to discuss from a long-range perspective the fundamental way in which the resolution of business disputes has changed since I began my practice in 1970.  During the 1970’s and 1980’s, the people in the companies I represented looked at lawsuits as the business equivalent of warfare, and their competitive instincts dictated the strategy they wanted their lawyers to follow.  They typically believed that their side was right and the other side was wrong, and they were willing to spend whatever it took to prove their point.  Trial lawyers were gladiators hired to defend their clients’ honor.

Now almost forty years later, as the first decade of the twenty-first century nears an end, the people I know in the business world have a completely different attitude toward litigation.  In most cases, they see a lawsuit as a nuisance and a distraction from more productive ways of pursuing their corporate objectives.  Moreover, they have little interest in spending the amounts of money required to resolve disputes through full-blown litigation.  A lawsuit is just another cost of doing business, and the lawyer’s job is basically to solve the problem as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

This major change in attitude among businessmen and women means that less than five percent of civil lawsuits today are actually tried before a judge and jury.   A key factor in reducing the number of jury trials is the development of “alternative dispute resolution,” including methods such as mediation and arbitration, which we will discuss in future editions of this blog.  Responding to the wishes of its clients, Weiss Law Firm focuses on using its experience in solving business disputes efficiently and effectively with all of the procedural tools available.  Now you know why our logo displays the three E’s that make us different – EXPERIENCE, EFFICIENCY, and EFFECTIVENESS.