The importance of selecting the right counsel

No matter how good of an employer you are, no matter how well you treat your employees, and no matter how closely you try to follow the myriad laws that regulate your relationships with your employees, the harsh reality is that the fact that you are an employer means that you will get sued. Once you are sued, the first and most important decision you have to make is the choice of the lawyer who will defend you.

For example, consider Falzone v. Licastro (N.D. Ohio 3/4/12) [pdf], which dismissed an employee’s claims against his former employer. The lawyering involved in the briefing directly impacted the viability of the lawsuit:

At the outset, the Court observes that Falzone has greatly complicated the Court’s task.  His ten-page-long opposition to summary judgment does not contain a single heading, is littered with unsupported conclusory allegations, eschews legal analysis for paragraph-long block quotes, and, with a couple of exceptions, either fails to identify the portions of the record on which his claims depend or cites parts of the record so voluminous that the Court can only wonder what it should be looking for.... For this reason alone, a grant of summary judgment to Defendants on Falzone’s claims is appropriate. Nevertheless, because the Court can, on its own, piece together enough of this poorly developed record to address in substance most of Falzone’s claims, it will.

As Falzone illustrates, your choice of counsel can make or break your case. Choose wisely.