I just returned from a regional conference of bar leaders. Mostly, I think this group gets together to plan get-togethers, but it doesn’t hurt to hear that others have the same pain as you. For instance, it appears that other states are facing the “brain drain” with some of the best and brightest leaving the trial and appellate benches to join firms offering alternative dispute resolution practices. It seems ADR has now replaced jury trials as the method of choice to resolve corporate disputes.
After suffering the pain of discovery, which has now devolved into an insane process of each side dumping millions of documents on their opponent and then hiring legions of Indian lawyers or computer programmers to sift through them for the smoking gun, most corporate leaders are willing to pay a retired judge to end it all. It is fine for the clients, and a good business for the firms offering the service.
