| Commercial Litigation A good commercial litigator will be able to play two roles--advocate and advisor. Many businesspeople fail to see how important it is that the attorney they hire be able to play both of these roles. Some commercial litigators who are very good in the courtroom are poor advisors outside the courtroom and thus fail to suggest alternatives to costly court battles. Mr. Hernandez has tried cases in the court and has business experience before becoming a lawyer. (References are available). When you speak with Mr. Hernandez you will understand why business people and regular citizens hire him, the initial consultation is free. If a businessperson feels offended by a lawsuit and sees an attorney while still feeling indignant, he or she may wind up hiring an attorney who feels as indignant over the case as he or she does. Too often that attorney is simply arguing the case to the client and telling the client everything he or she wants to hear. The problem with this is that what a client needs to hear is not always what he or she wants to hear. Today many commercial disputes can be time-consuming and costly. No party should initiate one or continue to fight one solely because he or she is offended or indignant at the other party's actions. Often, there is too much money at stake to allow emotions to rule over rational judgment. It is the responsibility of a good commercial litigator to tell his or her client the benefits and risks of taking a case to trial, and to act as an advisor in the office. The advocacy role should be saved for trial or for settlement negotiations. This distinction between the two roles of good commercial litigators may seem obvious, but many decision makers do not really understand it. An attorney who never sees any way out of a problem other than fighting in court is an attorney who learned the advocacy role but failed to learn the advisor role. If that attorney is going to represent a client, it is important that the client also have other counsel who can recognize the risks and occasionally suggest alternate courses of action. When to Sue Eventually it may be necessary to sue another party. Litigation has become a routine cost of doing business for many companies in this country. Of course, litigation is not painless, even for the party that eventually wins the lawsuit. It is a skill to know when to turn to the courts to settle commercial disputes. Seek Legal Advice Early The best way to use a lawyer is to involve him or her in the early stages of a deal. Often, if legal advice is sought early enough in putting together a deal, it will be unnecessary later to ask lawyers to "fix" something that has gone wrong. If legal advice has not been sought early, or a deal looks like it will sour despite earlier legal advice, it is wise to seek legal counsel again. Most importantly, our legal system is full of statutes of limitation that require a plaintiff to bring a lawsuit within a set time or lose forever the right to do so. Different statutes of limitation have different time periods and different events can start the clock ticking. Even if a dispute later is settled peacefully to the satisfaction of all sides, it may be necessary to file a commercial lawsuit early in order to preserve the right to go to court if other forms of dispute resolution are not effective. What to Do when Sued At first glance it may seem that getting sued is worlds away from suing someone else, thus it may come as a surprise that responding to a lawsuit is similar to initiating one. If you have been sued contact Mr. Hernandez immediately, time is of the essence, generally you have about 20 days to respond to a lawsuit before defaulting. Mr. Hernandez can determine how you can be protected from a lawsuit. |
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| ALEX R. HERNANDEZ JR. ATTORNEYS AT LAW |
Attorney Alex R. Hernandez Jr. is solely responsible for the content of this website. Houston * Austin * San Antonio * Port Lavaca * Victoria * Corpus Christi Our law firm (Despacho de Abogados) handles cases throughout the entire United States including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Our lawyers and attorneys (Abogado) also focus on handling lawsuits in the following cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose City, Detroit, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Fort Worth, Baltimore, Charlotte, Boston, Seattle, Washington, Milwaukee, Denver, Louisville, Las Vegas, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Portland, Tucson, Corpus Christi, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Long Beach, Fresno, Sacramento, Mesa, Kansas City, Cleveland, Virginia Beach, Omaha, Miami, Oakland, Tulsa, Honolulu, Minneapolis, Colorado Springs, Arlington and Wichita. |
