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Law Practice

Oct. 30, 2026

Your lawyer can take off and fly. Can he land?

The willingness to try a case is what makes it settle at the right number. Before hiring a lawyer, ask how many cases that lawyer has tried to verdict.

Kevin Collins

Partner
Sterlington PLLC

Litigation Practice

He has tried dozens of cases to verdict or award before juries, judges and arbitrators over 30 years of practice.

See more...

Your lawyer can take off and fly. Can he land?
Shutterstock

The hand came down on the conference table hard enough to rattle the water glasses. We were an hour into a settlement conference, and the lawyer across from me had just said that if my client would not pay the amount demanded, the case was going to trial. That demand was far above what we believed the facts supported, and I had said so.

I said that was fine. We would try it.

The case did not settle that day. It settled a few weeks later, on terms that were a fraction of the...

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