General counsel can relate to the opening line of "A Frolic of His Own," a novel by William Gaddis: "Justice? You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law." This line is sometimes true, sometimes not, when dealing with plaintiffs and their lawyers behaving badly.
Despite Gaddis’ glum outlook, there can be instant karma when a plaintiff or his attorney does something unfortunate and the consequences follow immediately. Read the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2010 decision in Brown v. Oil States Skagit. The opinion crisply sets out the tale of two suits. The same plaintiff was deposed in both: One involved an automobile accident, the other involved his claim of racial discrimination against his employer. In the first, he testified that the only reason he left his job and decided not to return was because of his injuries. In the second, he testified that the only reason he left his job was because of the discrimination.
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