{"id":740,"date":"2010-12-31T10:56:19","date_gmt":"2010-12-31T15:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=740"},"modified":"2012-03-19T13:58:02","modified_gmt":"2012-03-19T17:58:02","slug":"long-before-you-imagine-you%e2%80%99ll-ever-have-to-sue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=740","title":{"rendered":"You are born, et cetera"},"content":{"rendered":"

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. \u2013 George Washington, First Annual Address to Congress, 1790<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019ve told you about the Skush-O\u2019Briens\u2014 and hinted at the horrors they would bring down upon my head\u2014I\u2019m taking a break from my specific lawsuit to get back to the early stages of any lawsuit, maybe yours:<\/p>\n

In the beginning, you were born. Your adoring god-like parents enraged and terrified you on a daily basis, yet it\u2019s unlikely you remember any substantial wrong for which you as an adult will choose to sue them. Sure, they were hooked on whatever cockamamie feeding-and-changing-and-putting-you-to-sleep rituals that prevailed during their tenure as baby parents, but most likely they made sure you weren\u2019t getting lead poisoning from gnawing on toys made in China.<\/p>\n

And if you had slightly older, slightly fratricidal siblings (slightly older siblings are always fratricidal), your parents certainly assured your safety within the family bosom, at least until you were strong enough to whack \u2018em back.<\/p>\n

So your parents are probably off the litigation hook.<\/p>\n

Life was good, wasn\u2019t it? Your crib, your succulent mammary glands, your mashed peas, your colorful mobiles dancing around your face.<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, life became more complicated. Even as you developed your potential for success as a sentient adult, your potential for getting entwined in the legal system developed simultaneously.<\/p>\n

To repeat what I\u2019ve pointed out previously: the older you get \u2013 and we do get older than we used to (probably why there\u2019s now a legal speciality called Elder Law)\u2013the more likely it is you\u2019ll find yourself treated unjustly by someone other than your murderous sibling. We\u2019ve got this long long life span during which any of us might become the victim or hero of tortious actions.<\/p>\n

(Which reminds me: during a big press conference the day our law firm filed a major civil rights\/police brutality lawsuit, I was confronted by a well-known local TV reporter covering the conference. She\u2019d been skimming through the actual complaint and said snidely, \u201cI found a typo.\u201d This got me upset; I\u2019d been the proofreader and had finalized the document. \u201cWhere?\u201d I said, in a low-grade panic. She gave me the page number and said, \u201c\u2018Tortious?\u2019 You mean \u2018torturous,\u2019 don\u2019t you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I did not take a snarky tone when I explained so kindly that \u201ctortious\u201d was the adjective for the legal concept of \u201ctort,\u201d i.e., a wrong.)<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s a revolutionary idea: prepare for a possible lawsuit long before one hits you on the head.\u00a0 In subsequent posts, I will tell you how.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introducing an original idea:prepare for lawsuits long before you sense you’ll be involved in one. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1175],"tags":[161,165,41,164,162,163],"class_list":["post-740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-facts-of-life","tag-civil-rights-lawsuits","tag-fratricide","tag-legal-causes-of-action","tag-nyc-tv-media","tag-police-brutality-lawsuits","tag-torts-and-tortious-ness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t