David v. Goliath: What Would Have Happened Without the Slingshot?
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I've been at this legal thing going on 28 years. In all those years, I have always represented the "little guy" against the "big guy". The little guy doesn't just mean individuals. Very often, it means representing a small or medium size business against a much larger and more powerful adversary. The larger will always try to crush the small.
I'm reminded about this today because a potential business client with a claim against a formidable competitor asked me this week how he could possibly win against this foe that had done him wrong. First, I tell these folks that I have been handling cases against the mighty and powerful for years. Then, I ask them to think about what would have happened had David not used the slingshot against Goliath. Well, I say, in the legal business, we have our slingshots, as well.
The slingshots are many. First, technology has been a real leveler of the playing field. Although I did this before we had the tech we have today; it certainly is a help. I can crank out paper as fast as the fastest/largest law firm around. We also have the rules of procedure which are intended to ferret out the facts and evidence applicable to a case. For example, CEOs become timid when faced with their own internal emails. The wise and powerful often click the "send" button without thinking. This is not to say we don't have to fight for this information. I have yet to have a corporation voluntarily turn over a damaging piece of information or evidence without a fight and usually only after a court order. It isn't right, but it is part of the game. Finally, we have on our side the fight and tenacity of small firm trial lawyers. Most "little guy" lawyers are from small, lean trial firms that didn't go to Harvard to represent corporate America. We often went to schools like Suffolk Law and then hung out a shingle because we couldn't get jobs at the big firms. It may not be that way today, but it was 27 years ago when I graduated from law school. We learned how to practice law in the courtroom, not the boardroom.
How big are these adversarys? Over the years, my recall of some names on the other side of cases include Shell, Pfizer, Smith Nephew, Unisys Corp, Baxter, Johnson and Johnson and many many others. So...when you hear someone say they are afraid to assert or fight for their rights; remind them of David and the slingshot.
Bruce Bierhans