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well i don’t want to say all litigation
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is the same because it’s not however we
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do
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apply the same principles the front
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stage backstage
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um model that i learned in business
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school 100 years ago
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in business litigation to me there are
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basically two types
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my experiences with two types the first
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is the bet the farm
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you win you live you lose
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you go out of business for me i’ve been
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a business owner
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for the past 40 years i was a co-founder
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of a technology company
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that just sold two years ago for 20
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million dollars
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i’ve made payroll my clients understand
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that i know what the business pressures
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are
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i know what it’s like when receivables
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are being held up or you have somebody
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filing bankruptcy
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so when i come into a business setting
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with business clients
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i bring the fact that i am one of them
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and they appreciate the fact that
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they’re speaking to another businessman
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in the high risk cases
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it’s simple you need as much preparation
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as
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much backstage as possible you can’t be
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underprepared when you go into that kind
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of case
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the second type of business litigation
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is something i see
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all the time it’s shareholder oppression
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actions
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employment cases under various federal
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statutes right now we’re defending
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a class action brought under the fair
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labor standards act
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you have breach of contract cases
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or defect cases in the manufacture of
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goods
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primarily manufacturing
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tools and machinery there’s a
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big case that i handled a few years ago
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involving a machine manufacturer
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delivering a
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giant machine to general motors that was
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rejected
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you know that was not going to put the
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my client out of business but it was a
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very big deal and we jumped on it right
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away
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so it’s those kind of ordinary
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disputes that happen that are a
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distraction to the owner
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he wants to delegate it away he wants to
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be contacted when necessary
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and he wants to know that he’s got
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somebody who’s got his
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back in charge of it one of the things
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that i think is most important in that
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context
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is to explain to him i understand costs
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believe me i’m not running my bill i
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would rather have you as my client
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forever
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than hit you for some giant bill and
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never see you again
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i hire lawyers i am a purchaser of legal
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services for my various companies
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i understand what it’s like to be on
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that side business people appreciate
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that in me
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