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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 9160071" data-attributes="member: 7023840">So a few things-1. Judges will often give litigants enough rope to hang themselves with.2. There are bad (and even incompetent) attorneys out there. Like ... a lot. Things that good attorneys will take for granted often seem like mysterious concepts to the bad attorney. I had a case some time ago with an attorney (bar licensed) who was so terrible at so many things that he ended up paying more in sanctions over the case than the case was worth, and ended up dismissing it prior to a contempt hearing. Just because the most basic procedural matters seemed to be beyond him. But that's the bottom of the barrel. Even when you get beyond that, you will often see attorneys who don't understand basic concepts- for example, I am thinking of a case involving an attorney who was somewhat competent, but absolutely could not understand the difference between claims, counterclaims, cross-claims, and third-party claims.Many of these attorneys survive because most of the issues they normally deal with are of minimum complexity.3. Most importantly, I don't think people understand that "law" is a specialized practice. There are still generalists, but they are few and far between. An attorney that does transactional work will often be lost when it comes to litigation. An attorney that specializes in civil practice won't understand criminal law. An attorney that focuses on administrative matters might not understand the finer points of appellate practice. An attorney that has spent their life dealing with family law may not fully grasp the finer points of M&A documents. An attorney that spends all their time in state court may be at a loss in federal court. A labor attorney that is used to advising unions may not have the first idea about how to successfully prosecute a med-mal action. And so on. As you previously surmised, an attorney with a long and successful practice in criminal defense may be at a disadvantage when it comes to prosecuting a defamation claim.</blockquote>

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