So Bruce Nagel is managing partner of the firm that bears his name - Nagel & Rice, LLP.
According to their website, they employ 14 attorneys. Google sleuthing reveals that Nagel has been named as a Top 10 Super Lawyer “numerous times.”
How is it that an attorney can be good enough to build a nice-sized firm and win all kinds of accolades, but still draft such an abysmally bad document as what he filed the other day? I honestly can’t help but wonder if he was under undue pressure of some sort, or perhaps even under the influence of “something.”
I’m not convinced the amnesia was genuine. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. The defense experts said it was, the prosecution expert argued it may not have been.
I wonder if getting on a “Top 10 Super Lawyer” list is like any number of other ratings related labels, and it’s easy enough for crummy service providers to figure out ways to rig ratings, just to get that label?
I mean, it’s easy enough to see this dynamic at play with Facebook, Google and Yelp reviews for local businesses. I see 5 star ratings for businesses I KNOW are an utter mess all the time. It’s obvious half the ratings are from family members of the owners, etc.
What I have heard, from watching lawyer channels on YouTube - and I would be happy to be corrected on this - is that Super Lawyer is a paid title and many lawyers just don’t bother to partake in the “Super Lawyer” designation process. You could be a great lawyer or a not great lawyer and still be called Super Lawyer.
Just to give an example - Girardi was a Super Lawyer. And now his firm has declared bankruptcy and is in sooo much trouble for all the money they’ve taken out of client trust accounts.
I agree with this. Many of those awards are likely hyper local and dubious.
I cannot explain that document. I honestly don’t even know what to say - plus SGF has said it all better than I could. To see that kind of sloppiness in work product is simply not something I’m used to at all. Plus the ignoring subpoenas and waiting until contempt filings before even responding? I mean, I just have no clue why anyone ever thought any of it was even a de minimus professional standard of service.
Regarding the parts I bolded, I understand where you are coming from in general. But a few thoughts….
Is it even a foregone conclusion that SGFs insurance policy would pay out if the jury awarded a judgement to LK? Are you actually anticipating that a jury will all just assume this is this the case?
I’m pretty sure SGF LLC = MB plus a couple who are now in their mid 80’s. That’s it. It’s not like it’s a big corporation or an institution. I could see that a jury might take note of this, and feel some sympathy for the three human beings who actually are SGF LLC.
I have been lurking on these threads for awhile, but as an attorney who worked in a civil judge’s chambers in NJ, I wanted to note this is generally what happens. Settlement conferences are generally required as part of case management and the judge or a retired judge acts as mediator. They usually propose a settlement or see if they can get the sides closer to a settlement.
Question for the legal professionals - say this goes to court and the jury finds SGF liable - and SGF’s motion against MB gets denied - as in, SGF personally is liable. Since its an LLC, can it declare bankruptcy and dissolve to negate financial liability? Can judgements be removed through bankruptcy? Does the financial liability of the owners, not the LLC depend on whether the property title is under the LLC or their name?
Oh interesting. Sometimes when it comes to paid labels like this… these are actually the service providers you want to avoid. Because the best service providers don’t actually need to pay for labels in order to create the appearance that they are excellent…
Or maybe it is the type of list you can pay to be on?
Not saying this is a nefarious thing. Just lots of those kinds of lists are simply pay to play things and then lots of places do not bother to pay to get their name on the list.
Edit to add - I see that @StB.YM already said this, and said it better than I did.
Corporations do not get discharges in Chapter 11 - assuming that is what SGF would file. The judgment would be probably be recorded in the bankruptcy by LK’s attorneys, and she would become a creditor of the bankruptcy estate. Financial liability for the owners would be a question of piercing the corporate veil, which is difficult to do under most circumstances.
Much like the “who’s who under 30” or whatever list, Super Lawyers is a subsidiary of Thompson Reuters and inclusion is pretty much the result of someone nominating you and not being censured.
It’s marketing nonsense and it doesn’t mean that the person is actually, objectively, a super lawyer.
Honestly @CurrentlyHorseless without being really, really rude, no one cares what you believe about Michael’s mental state at this point. You continue to pontificate repeatedly about dead issues, especially regarding the criminal trial. We KNOW how you feel without you repeating and twisting it every way possible just to get reaction. Enough already, please. Others are being very polite repeatedly responding to you. Seriously, move on to a new idea.
The nature of liability insurance is that if the entity, SGF, is held liable for $x million in damages for personal injury to LK, the insurance company pays the judgement.
I think SGF consists of the very sympathetic elderly couple who owned the land for HH, plus MB, and my guess is that the equity ownership is very skewed in the favor of the elderly couple. So I think the equity stake in SGF is mostly the elderly couple.
I don’t think a jury will hesitate to award a sizable award against SGF if they know or assume it’s going to be paid by the insurance company. It’s a comfortable outcome for the jury; LK was indisputably injured, she gets monetary compensation for her injuries, but the money comes out of the pocket of a faceless institution, not from poor MB, or sweet RC.
There was a recent case in which a man with an insured vehicle had sex with a woman in his vehicle and gave her a venereal disease. Maybe Herpes. Anyway a transmittable disease was transmitted. The sex was consensual. Anyway, the woman sued the insurance company got her injuries and won! A big award. Perhaps vehicle liability policies will read differently in the future.
