Recognizing that a lawyer’s reputation can be affected by his or her timeliness in responding to others and in his or her file management practices, this paper identifies common reasons why litigation files often grind to a standstill. The author goes on to provide suggestions for preventing such a standstill. Some of the topics covered include client management, psychological considerations, dealing with non-responsive counsel, settlement overtures, and dealing with incivility. Relevant Code of Conduct excerpts are attached.

This paper was presented at the 47th Annual Refresher – Civil Litigation program in April 2014.