How to Reason With the Un-Reasonable

𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗳 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆: "𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲"

Me: "There 𝗜𝗦 nothing here" (𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴)


2 Months ago, I was retained by a plaintiff's attorney

• The retainer was paid
• The medical records were reviewed
• The follow-up Zoom discussion was scheduled

And it was all 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡 from there


My concluding statement was very blunt

"No breach in the anesthesia standards of care"

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙


Then came my cross-examination

He asked hypotheticals

He played "devil's advocate"

He demanded explanations for my positions

In short:

He represented his client 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 well


𝙉𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚

And this he did not take well


❌Not retaining me again was mentioned in passing

✅This was ignored (my feelings wouldn't be hurt)


❌Non-payment was mentioned in passing

✅This was ignored (my retainer was already in hand)


❌Not recommending me was mentioned in passing

✅This was ignored (demand has never been higher)


In the end

No amount of bullying, anger, pleading, or pressure

Could change that there were no breaches

And I held my ground

It was either that ... or go along and get my reputation and expertise destroyed at deposition or trial

𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙟𝙪𝙧𝙮 ...



𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚?