During settlement discussions with the judge,
the judge asks me for my bottom line number
and promised not to reveal and divulge that
information to the defense.
You want to learn what got my so outraged
and so upset shortly after this occurred?
Come join me as I share with you this outrageous
story.
Hi.
I'm Gerry Oginski.
I'm a New York medical malpractice and personal
injury trial lawyer practicing law in the
state of New York.
Now this was a medical malpractice case that
I was negotiating.
The case was coming up for trial and the judge
brought all the parties in together shortly
before trial to try and get settlement negotiations
going.
And in a private discussion with me, he said
to me "Mr. Oginski, what is your bottom line
number in this case?"
Now I had a high demand on this case which
was a significant medical malpractice case
and I told the judge in confidence what my
bottom line number was.
I trusted the judge.
I'd been in front of him before and he'd always
done right before.
Now he brings in the defense attorney to come
in and talk to them.
And the first thing out of the judge's mouth
was Mr. Defense attorney, Mr. Oginski has
told me that his bottom line number is this
amount.
Do you have that amount or not?
I said, "Judge!
What did you just do?
What did you do here?
You just disclosed something you promised
you wouldn't do.
Now I have no negotiation leverage whatsoever.
Either he settles the case right now for that
amount of money or the case is never going
to be settled.
All because you disclosed my bottom line number."
Now, I will share with you that in these types
of cases we make a demand and the defense
will typically understand that the demand
we're making is not the final number that
we're going to accept and everyone understands
that.
So, for example, if I make a demand for $2.5
million dollars the defense knows that's not
my bottom line number.
Instead, that's a number that I'm reaching
for.
However, what is my bottom line number?
What is the minimum that I will accept in
order to settle this case on my client's behalf?
Well, the defense doesn't know it.
I'm the only one who knows that information.
And if I disclose that information too early
then I will have lost all negotiating leverage
totally in the case and likely will not be
able to settle the case.
I was furious with the judge and I said so
right in front of the judge and the defense
attorney.
And you should have seen the look on this
defense attorney's face.
He couldn't believe that the judge disclosed
this critical information.
This is privileged, this is confidential.
The judge never ever should have disclosed
that information.
Instead, he should of obtained from the defense
what their best offer was and now come back
to me with that and I now I can come down
off my demand.
That's proper negotiation.
That's how cases get settled.
Not when you turn around and promise not to
divulge information and tell the defense attorney
in the very first sentence what my bottom
line number is.
So why do I share this great information with
you?
I share it with you to give you an insight
and an understanding into what goes on in
the negotiation process in a medical malpractice
case or an accident case or even a wrongful
death case here in New York.
You know, I realize you're watching this because
you likely have questions or concerns about
your own particular matter.
Well if your matter happened here in New York
and you do have legal questions, what I encourage
you to do is pick up the phone and call me.
I can answer your legal questions.
You know, this is something that I do every
single day and I'd love to talk to you.
You can reach me at 516-487-8207 or by email
at Gerry@Oginski-law.com.
That's it for today's quick video.
I'm Gerry Oginski, have a great day!
