I learned and profited much from these sessions. I listened to nine attorneys and judges discussing the need for a judiciary free from the political pressures of the moment. It all went to show the importance of keeping the legal profession above the hurly-burly of popular pressures, and if anyone doubts this they have polls and focus groups to prove it. I skimmed Employment Termination Rights and Remedies , an imposing leather volume of 1,065 pages that could be Blackstone's, except that if you gave it to Blackstone, he wouldn't have a clue what it was about. Like its companion volume Mental and Emotional Injuries in Employment Litigation , the book could better be titled How to Avoid Work and Get Something for Nothing .
People win millions of dollars making such claims.
There are, I discovered, ten basic doctrines a lawyer may invoke at settlement time to increase his fees. Complex Issues Dealing with a Difficult Adversary. Superior Quality of Work. And if you're forced to defend your bill, bill for that time too. In other fields, this is known as bill-padding.