Every time I come back for a look at this blog it whacks me on the head with another dose of “flying time”. It’s incredible I haven’t written anything since July. What’s worse, is how long it’s been since I wrote anything to do with law or oil or gas. I should look at earlier articles to see if I’ve already expressed my exasperation with the litigation side of law practice. If not, I’ll have to devote an article to that pretty soon. For now, I’ll just say, “I’ve had it.” If my experience the past couple years is an accurate reflection, then litigation is certainly no longer about finding truth or justice. Any lawyer who thinks thorough research and preparation are key is a dinosaur, like me. What it’s about now is figuring out any billable activity that can be justified in order to reap the maximum fees from the client. To actually suggest consideration of settlement before the client has started seriously complaining about the large amount of fees and small amount of progress is contrary to the mission statement of any modern law firm. Or, maybe it’s just the ones I keep running into. There also seems to be no compunction about subornation of perjury. The only hesitation seems to be over whether or not the other side might have some concrete evidence sufficient to establish the perjury. If not, it’s off to the races! “Don’t ask, don’t tell” seems to be the new maxim for attorney-client relationships. It used to be, “I can’t properly represent you if you don’t tell me the truth.” Now, it’s “If you’re lying, don’t tell me you’re lying.” But what about the rules and statutes that impose on the lawyer an obligation to independently investigate the facts to be sure the claim is in good faith? Heh, just find me a judge, any judge, any where, who’d be willing to slam an attorney who obviously did nothing other than take his client’s “word” as gospel. Unless, sometimes, it turns into something that waste’s some of the judge’s time, to the extent he/she will call it a “fraud on the court”. A fraud on a party, however, is just part of the game. Well, I guess I unloaded a few remarks there, after all.