RE TEAM PLAY AND EXPERTS AND OTHERS

This is an article from some years ago, re such themes as the ignoramitocracy, etc. This is only the Prologue, and Introduction:

ATTACKING THE TEAM IN EMINENT DOMAIN

       PROLOGUE: THROW DOWN CASES

Back when I was a public defender, the police used a popular technique to make drug arrests.  “Drug holes,” so called by police, especially in front of juries, were places where dealers and customers gathered.  These were just places on the street or in a building.  There was no hole there.

Some of you may be faintly reminded of “remainder” holes.  These are places where the owner’s experts claim the owner was put, “down in a hole”, as a result of a condemnation.  Usually, in neither case is the place really a hole. If you said this to someone who lives in the mountains, or even in Atlanta, they would laugh.  But in Florida, which is mostly flat, it goes over well.

The police watched these places for drug activity, then charged with spotlights, trying to make ‘em all freeze.  

Some, perhaps the most guilty ones, ran away.  Those remaining ‘in the hole’ were arrested.  Drugs were inevitably found on the ground nearby.  The officers later reported that they saw a particular person throw a particular drug down. 

These cases became known as “throw down” cases.  Arrests and convictions played a part in officers’ advancement.  Some said that previously confiscated drugs were sometimes planted to frame people.  I don’t know about that.

In one case I tried, three officers said they saw my client throw drugs down, right at their feet, drugs bouncing off their toes.  What they said may have been true.  The wording of all three reports was identical.   All three officers’ testimony at trial was identical: a veritable chorus of accusation.  Sounds like an open and shut case.  The jury somehow let him go. Why?  Lets hold that question.

INTRODUCTION

I’m going to talk about team play in eminent domain. Most of you have heard nothing but praise for this approach.  The CLE manual pretrial chapter talks about the need for coordinated action between lawyers and experts.  Many illustrious practitioners  have praised a team approach.

Condemnors are equally eager to apply team concepts.  My comments here apply equally to both sides. In government, someone other than the lawyer may be “quarterbacking” the case.  So when I talk about a “quarterback”, I may be referring at times to a lawyer, a right of way administrator, a review appraiser, or a property manager.

An outline from a recent seminar provides a nice summary of what I would call the prevailing wisdom of the lawyer’s role in eminent domain.  I agree with much of what it says.  Something like teamwork is necessary in eminent domain. Though this outline provides some juicy morsels for my talk, these are ideals shared by most lawyers. 

It says, quote, “unlike many other types of litigation, eminent domain is a team sport.  Each of the experts involved in the case is an integral part of the team and the attorney is the quarterback.”  

Jacobs and Camins, ALI-ABA 1999, say “... The preparation of the appraisal report is part of a game plan.”

Just think about the implications for a moment. The lawyer a quarterback.  He tells the others on his side what to do.  Most people seem to think that’s a good model for what a lawyer should do.  Let’s take a closer look.

Quote, “as the quarterback, the attorney has the ability to choose the experts he or she wishes to retain on any particular case.”   

The quarterback gets to pick his players. Let’s look at who he picks and why. 

He picks good players.

Players he believes are right for the case.  Players he can work with.

Players who have independent judgment, but know when to yield to a higher cause. 

Players who know how to take orders. 

Players who have played together often before.

Players he can trust.    In a word,       team players.

In eminent domain, a good quarterback can pick a dream team!  Teams don’t win games unless they practice together and learn to play as a team.  Many  extol the virtues of playing together regularly.

Some warn against using well qualified non-team players: an individual may have exceptional talent and yet be ineffective because he or she is not a team player."


Term search eg team play.