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No advice, but you eventually get used to it. After almost a decade of litigating in south florida i’m completely desensitized to anything short of crazed screaming of expletives or threats of sanctions. It’s exhausting.
Not specifically with SoFla OC recently, but I absolutely understand the feeling. I always try to be pleasant and reasonable while preparing to bring things particularly hard for motions.
It has not solved every OC I deal with that comes at me with that posture, but I would say 50% have toned things down and realized that (a) they are not going to get a rise out of me, and (b) that doing so just makes me plan to make their lives harder thr longer they keep it up (while still being over the top nice).
I agree! I just smile and go on about my business when the chest beating starts. Like most bullies when they see they are not rattling you at all they tone it down.
I can’t provide any insight but let me tell you that your post explains a lot. I just took on my first case against a SoFla attorney and the hostility is insane. I thought the attorney was just an ass but I guess it’s more than that
There's an attorney in our office like that
He also has the most settlements every month.
Plaintiff attys do this because they know it will drive up defense costs, pressuring to settle.
Defense attys do this to keeo billing their client up.
Both are assholes, but paid assholes.
All styles work.
There’s certainly a vibe from many of our SoFla friends, even in transactional work.
just a shout out, but the west south Florida attorneys (me!) are a lot more laid back, what with the big retirement community. When clients bring in non local attorneys, the local judges REALLY don't like the attitude. Its actually pretty collegial here in the Naples/Ft Myers/Sarasota area, and when the ft Lauderdale or "east coast" attorneys get before the judge, they do not have a lot of good will. So you can take some comfort that.
As to why, like anything, it probably has to do with personality and upbringing (if their identity is the scrappy, "I had to fight for everything I've gotten" type, they think everything is a challenge by default, and the other person has an ulterior motive. Its a trap! Or they are just pandering to the client...
My client recently tangled with a litigator out of SoFla and he was dogged in his attacks and persistence. Fought us every step of the way in case that he filed in the wrong forum and after the deadline for appeal had passed. Did everything he could to keep it going. Likely passing a crazy bill onto his client. Always was nice to him and recently got his case dismissed. Don’t let the aggression bother you, often it’s to hide that the case is bad or to run up a bill on a client.
Stay reasonable and paper everything. Eventually judges will be unhappy to see OC and you constantly before them. Keep yourself in a position to state that you’re not the one driving the vast majority of these court appearances.
People who litigate this way are trying to spike defense costs or generate unnecessary billing (alternatively, they just don’t know what they’re doing). It’s an ugly way to practice law, and it does not win favor with judges. Just keep your cool and let OC lose credibility. That may take a while, but it’ll happen—assuming that OC is taking unreasonable positions for the sake of being unreasonable.