Second-chairing allows litigators and appellate attorneys to collaborate early, work for a favorable outcome.

With the number of appeals on the rise, it seems that trial verdicts have begun to signal the intermission —rather than the grand finale — of a case. Given the trend, one might assume that more and more appellate lawyers have begun to get involved even before the foreman renders the jury's decision. But, if the consensus at the 2007 Michigan Appellate Bench Bar Conference is any indication, this doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, it is relatively rare that appellate attorneys and trial lawyers interact much at all during litigation. Rather, the two stages of a case are often treated as wholly separate entities with very little interaction between the trial and appellate lawyers. But Detroit attorney John P. Jacobs — an appellate specialist known to second chair trials before taking over as lead attorney on the appeal — is working to change this. more...

A defendant was not required to file a notice of non-party fault where it claimed a third party was the sole proximate cause of a fire, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled. The plaintiffs argued that the defendant was precluded from having its expert testify that the third party was at fault because it failed to provide notice as required by MCR 2.112(K). more...

John Jacobs is no Geoffrey Fieger. He's not as glib, as handsome or as well dressed. Unlike Fieger, Jacobs is not a celebrity. He won't be profiled in GQ magazine, as Fieger was last fall, or pegged for stardom in a prime-time network TV courtroom series, as Fieger is now. more...

By now, the sequence of events has become ritualistic. Tragedy (or reasonable facsimile thereof) strikes in southeast Michigan. Aggrieved party joins forces with Geoffrey Fieger, demands redress. Jury awards millions. It happened again last week, when the family of a Detroit man shot to death by an off-duty police officer was on the receiving end of a $6-million verdict. more...

A Genesee County circuit judge has overturned a $30-million jury verdict awarded to a woman injured in a 1994 pileup on I-75 during a presidential motorcade. more...