Judges Should Not Weaponize Delays To Force Compromises - Above the Law

Court activity often follows a morning schedule, with a lunch break and afternoon time for paperwork. Some judges hold afternoon sessions, but lawyers typically expect to be in court for only half a day and complete remaining work during the other half. In some cases, lawyers face uncertainty about when their case will be heard, since many matters are placed on a docket and handled in an order based on factors like case age or party names. Lawyers may spend much of the day waiting for judges or court officers. After conferences, lawyers can be directed to negotiate with adversaries, with the threat of staying longer in court or returning after lunch if no agreement is reached. This creates pressure because lawyers plan afternoon calls, filings, and depositions around expected court time, and prolonged stays can force difficult client tradeoffs.

"Many judges and lawyers have a cadence by which courtroom activities happen in the morning, then court activities stop so that judges and lawyers can have a lunch break and finish their paperwork in the afternoon. Sometimes judges hold sessions in the afternoon, but lawyers usually expect that they will be in court for half a day maximum and can finish all of their paperwork during the other half of the day they are not in court."

"Many times lawyers appear in court, they do not know when their case will be heard by the judge or court attorneys. Usually, many cases are on the docket for a given day, and court conferences or arguments are held when the parties are present and in some kind of order involving the age of the case or the name of the plaintiff. As a result, most of the time lawyers are in court, they are simply waiting for judges and court officers to hear their cases."

"In some instances, after conferencing a matter with a court attorney or judge, I have been told to work out an issue with my adversary. I have been told that the consequence of not being able to work something out would be that we would have to stay in court longer, or, sometimes, come back to court after a lunch break."

"Firstly, lawyers are busy professionals, and they typically schedule calls, filings, and even depositions in the afternoons since they usually expect to be in court for only half a day. Requiring lawyers to stay in court longer can apply unfair pressure to a lawyer since they may need to decide which clients to disappoint by either taking a hard stance or conceding a point."

Read at Above the Law