Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

PAGE PREVIEW

Members of the CPR Institute, which publishes this newsletter, know that intangible litigation costs—not just potential liability and legal expenses—are extremely important to clients. CPR’s excellent Early Case Assessment Toolkit (available at http://bit.ly/35HSKQ1) provides a good list of intangible business concerns that lawyers and clients should consider in assessing cases.

How many lawyers and clients actually conduct early case assessments, and how many actually quantify the value of the intangible litigation costs? Our research suggests that many lawyers shy away from giving clients clear, explicit assessments of readily quantifiable aspects of litigation—liability and litigation expenses.

They are even less likely to value intangible consequences, which are much harder to quantify but can be extremely important to clients. Without a careful assessment of intangible as well as tangible costs, an organization’s decision makers can underestimate the impact of litigation and thus make poor litigation decisions.