Litigating for the Principle of the Matter - A Bad Beginning!
Norm Coleman is now declaring that he will appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court in his never-ending quest to retain his seat as Minnesota’s senator. He lost – that much is clear. The court has rejected his attorney’s arguments of some massive unfairness in the system: Minnesota has a very good election system that has worked well over the years. Coleman has been arguing that it is somehow unfair that if one county accidentally allowed a vote by an ineligible voter, then not withstanding the law making these persons ineligible, all the counties must do the same. That nutty argument, and his total lack of any creditable evidence to support many of his charges, makes his case a losing proposition.
Kevin Duchschere from the Star Tribune has written a good piece about the Coleman election case. Coleman is currently trying to convince the public that he is continuing this fight for some higher purpose. In other words, it is the Principle that he is fighting for.
Any attorney who has litigated a case has probably heard a client declare that it is not the money – it is the principle. I think these are universally the worst clients. When we tell a potential client that their case might be good – or not, but either way it is not economically a good decision, they don’t necessarily listen. When that same client wants to bring the action anyway, (or defend instead of settling the matter) because it is the principle of the matter that counts most, this should be a real danger sign to the attorney. These clients almost always eventually decide that it really is the money, and not the principle that matters most.
It is easy for Coleman to take this position because he is not paying for the legal fees. If Coleman really believes that he is fighting for some high principle and he is right, (and I doubt both of these assertions) then he should be willing to fund the entire cost of the litigation. If he is not prepared to do that, I don’t think his representations are creditable. “Put your money where your mouth is.”
The same principle applies to litigation between emotional ex-business partners, or any other business litigation for that matter. When the fight becomes over “principle,” it is usually time to suggest that the potential client find another lawyer.
