Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

1410 Posts and Counting

Sorry, Lawyers.com!

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 27, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

Well, it turns out that Lawyers.com didn’t hire the Mad Men to put together a knockoff of the “I [fill in the blank] in my maidenform bra” advertising campaign after all. Somebody else, possibly a porno site, hijacked their good name. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click here and here.

Lawyers.com is a highly reputable lawyer selection web site, operated by Lexis-Nexis. That organization was unaware of the ploy until it was reported in the AVVO blog. Conrad Saam, who posted the story on AVVO, was unaware that the ads, which appeared as tweets on Twitter, did not originate from Lawyers.com. So we were all fooled.

Many apologies to Lawyers.com and Lexis-Nexis.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Help Not Wanted: Message to Future Lawyers.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 26, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

The New York Times reports on August 26, 2009 what every legal blog has been saying for a long time. Biglaw doesn’t need or want any more recruits. If anything, they are still laying off lawyers at all levels for lack of work. No one is surprised that the class of 2009 is having a very hard time finding legal work in line with its expectations. It will probably be worse for the class of 2010. The article mentions a Penn Law School graduate who would prefer a big-time Philly firm, but is willing to work in (shudder) Pittsburgh.

Actually, the top law schools are only experiencing the conditions that have prevailed for the rest of us for at least three decades. Pittsburgh is a place where there has been a surfeit of lawyers for a long time. That means that you become a lawyer because you want to practice law — not because you are guaranteed a comfortable income. If you are going to be a lawyer, you had better love it. And, you had better be prepared to exercise ingenuity to make a living.

Getting the first job is only the beginning of a lifelong adventure. There have been rapid and tumultuous changes in the past three decades and they can only be expected to accelerate. There are no meal tickets. There are no sinecures.

On the other hand, lawyering can be a satisfying and fulfilling career. If you do it with dedication and devotion to your clients’ causes, you will make a difference. But you must be able to truthfully tell yourself that you still want to do it if the money is not as good as you hoped and the obstacles are greater than you feared. If you can’t honestly say that, don’t go to law school.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Arbitration Exhibits, a Strategy.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 26, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

Presenting exhibits in a compulsory arbitration can be a messy affair, especially if there are quite a few of them. They are lying about on the table, out of order, mixed with the other party’s exhibits and various other pieces of paper. Then, when the testimony is complete, the chairman usually tells you to take your exhibits with you. Thus, exhibits you hope they will review during deliberation are gone.

May I suggest a simple solution? Attach every one of your exhibits to the complaint in the order you wish to present them at trial. Thus, the arbitrators have copies of everything, marked as they were presented at trial, in front of them while they are deciding the case.

Be sure to note in the pleadings that the exhibits are presented to the opposing party, at the time you filed the pleading, pursuant to Rule 1305. This saves you from having to make the disclosure later and perhaps violating the 20 day notice requirement in the process.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

300!

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 25, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c)

Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk recently passed another milestone: 300 posts. Thanks for reading.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Quick, Call the Mad Men! Lawyer.com Publishes Ads Which Would Have Been Mildly Racey in 1963!

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 25, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

Those of you who watched the last season of Mad Men will recognize one of the Sterling Cooper ad campaigns when you click on Lawyer.com. Conrad Saam of AVVO thought these ads were attention-getting. Really?

Well, they might have sold something in 1963, but do they sell lawyers? In 2009? Give me a break!

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Flat Fees and Alternative Billing Arrangements.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 25, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that the recession has given corporate clients the leverage to demand and get flat fees for work that was performed on an hourly basis by outside law firms.

Of course, flat fees are nothing new. What’s new is that Biglaw is doing it. Small firms and sole practitioners have been performing many types of services on a flat fee basis for as long as there have been lawyers and clients. Of course, this varies with the type of practice. Civil litigation is prone to turn into a war of attrition and even a solo a lawyer (who presumably doesn’t have to pay others to work on the case) could go broke trying to dodge all of the brickbats the other side can throw if the maximum fee is fixed in advance.

But flat fees are a great marketing tool for lawyers looking for quality work. It only makes sense. When it is possible to state with some degree of certainty how much work will be involved in a particular task, a fixed fee can fulfill the expectations of both sides quite well. The exception can be dealt with quite effectively by an escape clause that provides additional compensation when certain criteria are met. For example, mortgage foreclosures which typically involve a default judgment followed by a quick trip to the sheriff sale, are commonly handled on a flat fee basis, with the proviso that extra work (which is defined in minute detail in the engagement contract) results in extra fees.

When the parties can assess what a case is worth in advance, it is possible to agree on an appropriate fee. Otherwise, when the hourly fee starts to greatly exceed the value of the case, the lawyer finds him/herself in a tight spot and may start discounting or even writing off fees. And, by the way, clients are not the only ones who worry when fees exceed the value of a case. Lawyers fear that disappointed clients may look elsewhere next time — especially if the result was the prime cause of the disappointment.

A flat fee is like settlement. It gives a modicum of certainty in a world that sometimes seems to be spinning, spinning out of control. Ask your lawyer to quote one. You may be surprised.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Hearings on Statewide Foreclosure Conciliation Legislation Are Being Held By State House Committee.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 24, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that hearings are being conducted by the Pennsylvania House Commerce Committee on HB 1042, sponsored by Rep. Michael McGeehan of Philadelphia, which would mandate Courts of Common Pleas in every County to establish conciliation programs which would attempt to resolve mortgage foreclosures before they could proceed in court.

Called “mortgage foreclosure diversion programs”, Philadelphia introduced the first in the State in mid-2008. It created special masters to mediate cases and appointed volunteer attorneys to represent delinquent borrowers. Allegheny County followed suit with a similar program in early 2009, mediated by judges. Washington County adopted a much more limited diversion program, establishing an initial moratorium but without formal mediation by either special masters or judges.

There are good reasons why such mediations should take place. This recession is quite different than those of another generation where the sole wage earner lost a factory job that was never replaced. Today, with two income families and a volatile economy, temporary income interruptions are more common. However, by the time the full family income has been restored, foreclosure may have already begun, with the lender accepting no further payment but an amount to bring the loan current. A large percentage of homeowners in foreclosure have income sufficient to participate in an effective workout, one that would bring the mortgage current within a reasonable period of time. However, they are unable to bring the mortgage current in one payment. While programs such as the federally-sponsored “Hope” have led to some modifications, there is an obvious need for an independent mediator, due to the disparity of bargaining power.

Borrowers with substantial equity in their property, who may have paid regularly for many years, are frequently being given the same modification terms under lender plans as persons with no equity or negative equity. It is unjust for such borrowers to lose their life’s investment, as well as their long time home, when they are willing and able to make substantial payments over the mortgage amount which could cure the arrearage over a reasonable time. While Chapter 13 Bankruptcy has been the traditional way to address this problem, there are barriers to entering bankruptcy which may prevent or delay many from taking this avenue.

It make sense legal and economic to extend court-sponsored mediation to mortgage foreclosures.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Maybe They’re Busy Robbing Casinos.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 23, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Some interesting facts on bank robbery from the Freakonomics Blog.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Goodbye PittGirl, Hello Virginia.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 22, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

The phenomenon of PittGirl, our town’s most famous blogger, demonstrates how powerful a medium the internet really is.

The former PittGirl’s new blog, That’s Church, had something like 50,000 page views when earlier this week she revealed her identity and drew well over 100 comments from her legion of fans.

The exciting thing about blogging success stories like this is that anybody can do it. And lots of anybodies from anywhere have done it, are doing it and will continue to do it. If you can write interesting stuff like PittGirl did and Virginia Montinez does, you too can be a force. But the key word is “interesting.” Content is the soul of a blog. If you have it, they will find you.

That having been said, this is not an endorsement of That’s Church. While exceptionally interesting, it is . . . very, very blunt. Frankly, that genre is not to my taste. But it may be yours and if so, there is no reason not to read That’s Church or anything else you want.

And I do not endorse punting pigeons. Or should I say “trying” to punt pigeons? It has been my lifelong observation that pigeons, like PittGirl, can handle anything.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Happy Birthday, Brian Walters!

Posted by Cliff Tuttle| August 19, 2009 | © 2026

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

Click here for your astrological forecast.

Category: Uncategorized
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Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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