{"id":2583,"date":"2008-02-09T11:07:46","date_gmt":"2008-02-09T18:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2583"},"modified":"2008-02-09T11:34:35","modified_gmt":"2008-02-09T18:34:35","slug":"best-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2583\/best-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Case law recognizes that a \u201cbest efforts\u201d clause does not obligate the promisor to \u201cspend itself into bankruptcy,\u201d Bloor v. Falstaff Brewing Corp.<\/em> But it seems like it when your clients find themselves in litigation, even if the claims against them seem ridiculous. I had an old football coach tell me, \u201cNever argue with a fool, because an innocent bystander can\u2019t tell the difference\u201d, but I don\u2019t think that saying applies to the courts.<\/p>\n

It appears to me that the more the fool argues his case in front of a judge, throwing as much case law against the wall as possible hoping something sticks, the greater traction his ridiculous argument seems to gain with the court. After watching this practice in action, it appears to me that there is a professional courtesy among attorneys and judges, allowing those drowning in their own legal quicksand enough leeway to spew case law onto the court, like a lifeline they can use to extricate out of the mire, saving face with their clients.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever seen the episode of Man vs. Wild with Baer Grylls<\/a> in which Baer voluntarily walks into a pit of quicksand, you\u2019ll remember that it takes a certain skill, patience and effort to extricate oneself out of a \u201cjam\u201d. While remaining calm, one must get as much surface area on top of the quicksand without penetrating too deep. In my observations, it seems that the struggling attorney fights to gain \u201csurface area\u201d with the court without allowing any part of his case to penetrate too deeply into the mire, a practice which most judges will allow with some latitude.<\/p>\n

Remembering my Physics 101 class (at least I think it\u2019s Physics), every action has a reaction and every argument presented to the court has an appropriate response. Thus, every case law and ridiculous argument must be responded to preserving that your opponent remains mired in legal quicksand. These responses cost time and money, money that your clients must consider prior to entering into any litigation, if they have a choice.<\/p>\n

One benefit to commercial litigation (if there is one) versus litigation in an emotionally Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Case law recognizes that a \u201cbest efforts\u201d clause does not obligate the promisor to \u201cspend itself into bankruptcy,\u201d Bloor v. Falstaff Brewing Corp. But it seems like it when your clients find themselves in litigation, even if the claims against them seem ridiculous. I had an old football coach tell me, \u201cNever argue with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,5],"tags":[47,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-2583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-general","7":"category-investment","8":"category-real-estate","9":"tag-baer-grylls","10":"tag-litigation","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2877,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2877\/state-mandated-licensing-of-interior-designers-is-our-only-possible-protection-from-life-threatening-color-clashes\/","url_meta":{"origin":2583,"position":0},"title":"State-mandated licensing of interior designers is our only possible protection from life-threatening color clashes","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Via Coyote Blog, Clark Neily of the Institute for Justice argues against occupational licensing for interior designers in the Wall Street Journal:Imagine you were a state legislator and some folks asked you to pass a law making it a crime to give advice about paint colors and throw pillows without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2984,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2984\/a-pocket-example-of-the-practical-value-of-living-by-abstract-principle-i-do-not-compromise-with-bullies-and-i-would-rather-spend-fifty-thousand-dollars-on-defense-than-give-you-a-dollar-of-unmerit\/","url_meta":{"origin":2583,"position":1},"title":"The practical value of living by abstract principle: “I do not compromise with bullies and I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense than give you a dollar of unmerited settlement funds.”","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Why is hewing to abstract principle, which is so often derided as being \"impractical\", in fact the most practical course of action you can take? Because, when you cave in to bullies -- in addition to committing a grievous injustice to your own interests -- you are telling them in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":73,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/73\/lets-go-get-sued-some-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":2583,"position":2},"title":"Let’s go get sued some more…","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"At 360 Digest, an exceptionally fine real estate weblog, Marlow Harris weighs in with this idea about an incipient on-line real estate start-up:Blue Roof, like Redfin and Zip Realty, misrepresents their status as \"Realtor\" and claims to be a member of the National Association of Realtors and adhere to its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2639,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2639\/dont-panic-over-interrogatories\/","url_meta":{"origin":2583,"position":3},"title":"Don’t Panic Over Interrogatories","author":"Cheryl Johnson","date":"February 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It starts out as a lovely, sunny, holiday weekend in Southern California. Most of your tenants at the Palm Grove apartments are enjoying a day off, and having a barbecue in the parking lot. Missy from unit C goes back into her apartment to get a few more cold ones\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1711,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1711\/a-simple-question-what-can-you-blog-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":2583,"position":4},"title":"A Simple Question, What Can You Blog About?","author":"Morgan Brown","date":"July 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I imagine that many of the readers of this blog are bloggers themselves; who in their daily perusal of the blogosphere for inspiration and news land here as a reliant destination for intellectual discussion of the issues at the fore of our industry. If I've got the readership pegged then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/311\/fanmail-or-fanning-the-flames-mail-so-maybe-you-should-just-sit-back-and-keep-your-mouth-shut\/","url_meta":{"origin":2583,"position":5},"title":"Fanmail — or fanning the flames mail: “So maybe you should just sit back and keep your mouth shut . . . “","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's an email I got regarding this week's Arizona Republic column, detailing how the buyer actually pays the \"seller paid closing costs\":Hello Greg, I was incensed at your first article about the buyer paying for everything but I didn't feel the need to waste my time writing to you. However,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}