Gladiator is on TV, so it's time for a quick #AppellateTwitter story:
I got hired to handle an appeal after the client lost a jury trial. Before signing a judgment on the verdict, the judge ordered the parties to mediate again. 1/6
I got hired to handle an appeal after the client lost a jury trial. Before signing a judgment on the verdict, the judge ordered the parties to mediate again. 1/6
We thought that the plaintiffs might take the message that the verdict had issues and they might get reasonable at mediation. After all, a judgment on the verdict couldn't make things any worse for the defendants. Alas ... 2/6
At mediation, we skipped the opening joint session. We sent an offer to the plaintiffs. After visiting with them, the mediator came back and apologized for the message he was instructed to convey from the plaintiffs. 3/6
Plaintiffs' counsel told the mediator to ask if we had ever seen the movie Gladiator and if we remembered the first scene when Quintus says to Maximus, "People should know when they have been conquered." 4/6
This was the plaintiffs' message and response to our opening offer. They would take the full amount of the verdict (and some extra) and no less. The mediation ended shortly after that message was conveyed. 5/6
The judgment we got from the court appeals a year or so later reversing the judgment and rendering judgment that the plaintiffs take nothing was pretty sweet after that mediation experience. /end
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