The quarterback needs to retain outside counsel with the skill set to fit the needs of the defense plan project. With approval secured, the legal function should assign a quarterback to develop the budget, identify internal resources, and hire and manage outside counsel members of the defense team. Corporate leadership should understand why a coordinated defense is needed, the impact serial litigation has on the company and the industry, and the future impact on both caused by adverse publicity, precedent, and jury verdicts. If multiple claims or lawsuits have been filed by top plaintiffs' firms, in judicial hell holes, with company documents recognizing a defect identified in a recall or deviating from industry/government standards, and competitors are battling similar lawsuits in similar venues, then a defense plan is needed. Multiple factors must be weighed including how many claims the company is aware of, how many lawsuits have been filed, what business units are involved, venue, existence of "bad documents," similar industry lawsuits, plaintiffs' law firms involved, and government regulatory or recall issues at play. The most basic is whether a company-wide defense plan is required, meaning, is a cohesive defense strategy needed so significant legal spend should be committed to hiring outside counsel and occupying legal function resources to develop the plan. Some preliminary issues must be considered. Moreover, the plan defines the defense mission statement and company story to permit the company to consistently respond to serial lawsuits, to control outside counsel spend, and to move cases more efficiently to resolution. However, a cohesive and centralized defense plan allows companies to nimbly respond to a lawsuit filed in a venue where the company has not previously defended a lawsuit, and quickly educate defense counsel hired to defend it in that venue. They range from defining the company's approach, identifying key (and potentially harmful) documents and persons with knowledge, selecting trial counsel, and creating a legal budget that includes a settlement matrix to resolve cases and limit exposure. Many challenges exist when defending these suits, and some are venue specific. Averell 19:16:38Ĭorporate defendants litigating and trying (possibly) multiple lawsuits across multiple jurisdictions require a cohesive and streamlined defense plan that maximizes internal and external resources while simultaneously controlling legal spend. New Jersey Law Journal - NJ Law E-Discovery Litigation_ApDefending ‘Serial Litigation’: How to Coordinate Strategy and Minimize Legal SpendĮric L.
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