{"id":37462,"date":"2016-03-31T19:25:28","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T00:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/proper-handling-of-the-rambo-litigator.html"},"modified":"2017-01-30T14:20:45","modified_gmt":"2017-01-30T19:20:45","slug":"proper-handling-of-the-rambo-litigator","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/litigation-disputes\/proper-handling-of-the-rambo-litigator.html","title":{"rendered":"Proper Handling of the “Rambo” Litigator"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We\u2019ve all encountered what I refer to as the \u201cRambo\u201d Litigator. John Rambo, of course, was the slightly psychotic, yet heroic, war veteran played by Sylvester Stallone in a series of action movies in the 1980s. Rambo generally responded to provocation with overwhelming force. In the climax of the first movie, John Rambo shoots up a small town and then walks the barren streets as the fires of destruction light up the empty sky.<\/p>\n

Like the movie character, the Rambo Litigator tends to respond to challenges with a \u201cslash and burn\u201d mentality. Rambo Litigators wreck widespread havoc on the court system in hopes that opposing parties and counsel, as well as the Court, will become more concerned with their own safety than with the proper administration of justice. Rambo Litigators may file ethical and judicial complaints or even lawsuits against opposing counsel and presiding judges<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Like John Rambo, these litigators feel more suited to guerrilla warfare than civilized advocacy. Particularly where Rambo\u2019s case has large warts, he would rather focus the court on attorney behavior than on the merits of his case. Since the majority of attorneys don\u2019t resort to such tactics, Rambo may indeed gain some advantage by making constant accusations against opposing counsel.<\/p>\n

While nothing can make dealing with Rambo pleasant, the following suggestions can help neutralize the advantage Rambo hopes to gain by setting fire to your case:<\/p>\n

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  1. Choose Your Battle Field.<\/b> Federal courts, with more manpower and resources, are less likely to be overwhelmed by voluminous motion practice than state courts. Rambo likes to start fires to divert the resources of the court and opposing counsel from tasks which might otherwise be dedicated to substantive issues. In my experience, federal courts tend to put those fires out with more dispatch than state courts.<\/li>\n
  2. Choose Your Battles.<\/b> Don\u2019t be unnecessarily contentious in discovery. Rambo loves to bicker about discovery issues<\/a>. It keeps you from addressing the merits. If you just can\u2019t give Rambo what he wants, get a discovery master appointed. Even in most state courts, a discovery master can be appointed to resolve discovery disputes more quickly. This prevents Rambo from dragging you before the presiding judge to air every petty discovery grievance.<\/li>\n
  3. Keep Your Powder Dry.<\/b> Don\u2019t make counter-accusations lightly. It\u2019s tempting to criticize Rambo\u2019s own behavior when he\u2019s constantly criticizing yours. However, don\u2019t make counter-accusations out of frustration and don\u2019t call Rambo on the carpet for trifling matters. Wait until Rambo has clearly crossed the line before you call his behavior to the attention of the court. If you pull the trigger too early, the court is likely to conclude that the lawyers simply \u201cdon\u2019t get along. \u201d<\/li>\n
  4. Take The High Ground.<\/b> Even if you\u2019ve convinced the court that Rambo has misbehaved<\/a>, don\u2019t continue to harp on his behavior. Given the grief he\u2019s probably caused you, it\u2019s tempting to try to rub his nose in his shortcomings. Don\u2019t do it. The court will remember Rambo\u2019s misdeeds without your constant reminder. Once Rambo has been admonished by the court, take the opportunity to focus the court immediately on the merits of your case. There will never be a better opportunity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    *article courtesy of Curtis Tideman of Lathrop & Gage, LC,<\/i> ctideman@lathropgage.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We\u2019ve all encountered what I refer to as the \u201cRambo\u201d Litigator. John Rambo, of course, was the slightly psychotic, yet heroic, war veteran played by Sylvester Stallone in a series of action movies in the 1980s. Rambo generally responded to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6529,6520,6530],"class_list":["post-37462","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__criminal-litigation","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes","corporate_categories-litigation-disputes__criminal-litigation__other-business-crime"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/37462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=37462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}