Total Articles: 4
Conflict Discovery Post-Glenn: Court Allows Short Depositions to Proceed Based on Something Less Than Good Cause
In Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Glenn, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved an issue dividing federal courts for decades when it ruled that the inherent conflict of interest affecting insurance companies that both decide and pay ERISA benefit claims is a factor for courts to weigh in determining whether there has been an abuse of discretion in connection with a benefit denial, but does not alter the applicable standard of judicial review. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court left open the question of when and how a conflict’s weight can be explored in discovery. The uncertainty surrounding the proper parameters of conflict discovery has produced thousands of district court decisions on the subject in the three years since Glenn was decided.
Five pointless questions to ask in a deposition
Here are five pointless things to ask in a deposition. Full disclosure: I have sinned as to each.
Three techniques to use in questioning a witness
A goal in questioning a witness is to get him to agree to your question or make him look bad by not doing so. Here are three techniques.
Great minds teach how to sidestep nettlesome opposing counsel
I was deposing a plaintiff not long ago in a difficult and emotional racial harassment suit. The plaintiff's lawyer laughed at some of my questions, told me to move on, snickered -- you get the idea.
