Delaware Business Lawyer Blog

I’ve written about bullying in school, but in light of the fact that the month of February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, I thought I’d focus on dating violence and how it’s often related to school bullying.

It shouldn’t be surprising that there’s physical or emotional abuse in some relationships between two teenagers who are dating. It also shouldn’t be surprising that this abuse carries over to the school environment when these two teens attend the same school. Let’s look at one example. A young woman is being physically or emotionally abused by her boyfriend. She finally gets up the courage to break off the relationship, and she stops seeing him. Unfortunately, her ex-boyfriend attends the same school she does, and she runs into him in the halls, in some of her classes, while she’s waiting for the bus, etc. When the abuse spills over to the school, it falls within the definition of bullying, and it becomes the duty of the school to protect her from her ex-boyfriend.

As a Delaware attorney who represents both boys and girls who are the victims of bullying, it is disturbing to find that there is a built in prejudice against the girl on the part of many school officials. Here’s what happens. When a boy bullies another boy, teachers, principals and others treat it as bullying. When a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend bullies a girl, school officials often treat it as nothing more than a spat. In one of my cases, the principal actually said “I can’t get involved in every little argument between boyfriend and girlfriend. And she said this after the boy had tried to push the girl down the steps, after he placed his hands around her throat, and after he was arrested at school for this conduct.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) “teen dating violence” is defined as the physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence within a dating relationship, According to a national study, almost 1 out of 10 high school students were hit, slapped or physically hurt by their boyfriend or girlfriend during the last 12 months.

For more information, click on the following references:

information for parents

National Teen Dating Violence Hotline

U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services

The hourly fee has been a traditional basis for billing clients. As a Delaware attorney, I've found that it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s an example of an alternative way to determine the fees you’ll be paying your attorney. If a lawsuit has to be filed, we’d begin with a written plan that outlines what you can expect throughout the lawsuit. The plan will vary according to the complexity of the case and the issues raised. The plan also has to take into consideration the amount in dispute so that the litigation is cost effective. In addition, the written plan could provide a timeline for the various stages of the case. For a lawsuit, a general outline would possibly include:

(1) Meeting with client and review of documents
(2) Draft the Complaint
(3) Send Complaint to client for review and input
(4) Revise draft
(5) File Complaint with the Court
(6) Monitor service of the Complaint by the sheriff on the defendant
(7) Review Answer prepared by defendant’s attorney
(8) Discuss with client the defenses raised in the Answer
(9) Prepare initial discovery requests, such as written interrogatories, request for production of documents, and request for admissions
(10) Consult with client to obtain facts needed to respond to defendant’s discovery requests
(11) Draft responses to defendant’s discovery
(12) Review defendant’s responses to our discovery requests
(13) prepare for depositions of defendant and witnesses (if any)
(14) settlement negotiations
(15) mediation
(16) conference with judge and defense attorney
(17) organize exhibits for trial
(18) prepare for trial
(19) trial of case

If the legal matter does not involve litigation but rather the preparation of a contract or other documents, a written plan can outline the steps needed and the anticipated fees for client meetings, drafting, review, and revision of document.

Once the written plan is prepared, the next step is to estimate what the attorney’s fees will be for each of the items on the plan. These can be estimates, or the attorney and client can agree on a fixed fee for each step along the way.

The idea is that attorneys and clients can reach an agreement on fees based on how creative they choose to be.

As a Delaware attorney who represents clients who were neglected by nursing homes, I'd like to share an interesting case. After a 92-year old Kentucky man had a stroke, he was cared for at home by his wife and other family members. This went on for about 8 months, and then it was decided that he should have professional care in a nursing home. He was in the nursing home only 9 days before he had to be transferred to a hospital for dehydration, malnutrition, infections and bed sores caused by neglect. A short time later, this man died.

His family filed a lawsuit against the nursing home, and after a 3 week trial, the jury found in favor of the family and awarded them $43 million. This verdict was broken down by the jury as follows:
(1) $1 million for the pain this man suffered
(2) $1.75 million for the wife’s loss of her husband
(3) $40 million in punitive damages

Why are punitive damages given? Their purpose is to punish the wrongdoer, deter him from engaging in similar conduct in the future, and hopefully deter others from engaging in the same kind of conduct. Punitive damages are treated differently from state to state.

In Delaware, we could not get an award of $40 million for punitive damages when the jury's award for pain and suffering was only $1 million. That’s because in Delaware, the amount of punitive damages has to be reasonably related to the amount of compensatory damages awarded.

As a Delaware lawyer who represents businesses around the country and in Europe, I’m frequently asked whether Delaware is the best state to incorporate in. If you like statistics, 63 percent of the Fortune 500 are incorporated here. In total, there are more than 800,000 companies incorporated in Delaware.

These statistics don’t tell the entire story. There’s an interesting report that was recently published called the 2010 U.S. Chamber of Commerce State Liability Systems Ranking Study. Various factors were considered, including the impartiality, competence and fairness of judges, how tort and contract litigation is treated, timeliness of dismissals, etc.

This comprehensive report ranks Pennsylvania, California and Florida among the worst states. Delaware is ranked #1.

In my Delaware medical malpractice and personal injury practice, I have a lot of contact with my clients’ doctors, and I often request written reports that discuss the treatment, the doctor’s findings, the problems my client talked to the doctor about, and a prognosis for the future. I can’t tell you how many times the doctor’s report seems to describe somebody other than the client. The reason for this is that many clients don’t share with their doctor what they share with their lawyer. And when I looked into this further, the answer was simple. Doctors don’t ask their patients the same in depth questions a good lawyer asks his client.

It often takes a lot of time and many conversations to learn how the injuries my client sustained have affected him. Unfortunately, doctors just don’t have that amount of time to spend with their patients.

Later on, after a lawsuit is filed, the defense attorney scrutinizes the doctor’s records and finds that many of the problems the client complains about are not contained in the records. The defense lawyer then challenges the injured client and tries to make it appear that the client is not telling the truth.

I always tell each of my clients that the number 1 rule is to tell the truth. But telling the truth is more than making sure that what you say is true. It also includes not keeping to yourself important facts which are also true. So when you’re talking to your doctor, make sure you tell the doctor enough facts so he has a good understanding of the pain you’re feeling, and how that pain affects you in your daily life.