OUR FIRM
Pilchak Cohen & Tice, P.C. (“PC&T”) represents management exclusively specializing in the defense of labor and employment matters. We take pride in identifying creative defenses, counter claims and winning strategies for employers. In addition, we strive to identify defects in the Plaintiff’s case at the earliest possible stage of litigation, to achieve early dismissal or to illustrate low settlement value of a case to the opponent.
We are the exclusive Michigan Affiliate for Worklaw Network - The Nationwide Network of Management Labor and Employment Law Firms. Worklaw Network attorneys practice in 38 states and the District of Columbia. You can visit their web site at WWW.WORKLAWNETWORK.COM.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Our clients benefit by our identification of the following components of our litigation success over many years:
Creativity
Identifying creative and unusual defenses for our clients is routine at PC&T. Similarly, our clients have benefited from a creative approach to the investigation of matters.
We have successfully defended sexual harassment claims by obtaining testimony from plaintiff’s own therapists to the effect that childhood experiences have skewed adult perceptions. If a plaintiff testifies that job loss resulted in bankruptcy (to bolster mental distress damages), we obtain dismissal, because any recovery must go to plaintiff’s creditors, not plaintiff. In some cases, techniques usually reserved for criminal matters have made the difference, such as secretly obtaining a plaintiff’s fingerprints at deposition, or recovering documentary evidence from an opponent’s trash.
Our creativity is not limited to litigation matters. When we determined that many businesses were unable to learn and follow the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act, our attorneys developed a flowchart to map the process. See FMLAFLOWCHART.COM.
Quality Work Product / Persuasive Writing
We have sometimes worked without pay to turn out a fine legal product. We recognize that our reputation in the courts depends on the quality of every presentation. Accordingly, the quality of our product results from our own standards and has never been limited by the client’s ability to pay.
It is no accident that when we obtain summary dismissal or a favorable mediation award, we are usually complimented on the quality of our briefs. Superior writing means that our product actually gets read. Our attorneys write both professionally and for recreation. Review the curriculum vitae of our attorneys for a listing of their publications.
Trial Readiness
It’s a fact: Many attorneys are simply afraid of going to trial. We are not. In fact, we enjoy jury trials. We would like to try more cases, but we so often obtain summary disposition or favorable settlements that trial is not required. (Our clients, of course, prefer this strategy.) Our trial ready posture helps even those clients who wish to avoid trial at all costs. One recent trial victory resulted in the dismissal or nominal settlement of three other pending actions against the same company, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees.
Aggressive, Yet Civil, Advocacy
We know that plaintiffs have settled cases with our clients at a discount value rather than return for a second day of deposition. We know that our clients have been spared litigation because Plaintiffs’ counsel knows they will face a vigorous defense. One attorney for a terminated MD physician initiated settlement before the commencement of discovery, openly admitting that he did so because of our reputation of “not missing issues” and the prospect of doing a significant amount of work for virtually no payoff in the form of a settlement or verdict.
Aggressive litigation means winning trials or summary judgment and obtaining and collecting sanctions against Plaintiffs in employment litigation. We have obtained and collected sanctions as follows:
$35,000 sanctions awarded against an adversary that claimed client had interfered with employment contract.
$28,000 sanctions against terminated in-house counsel for railroad alleging age discrimination.
Production manager/age discrimination (“If they fire me, I’ll laugh all the way to the bank”): $18,000 sanctions collected in full.
Production employee/race discrimination: $15,000 sanctions award.
Millwright/sexual harassment: $6,000+ sanctions award not collected due to Plaintiff’s suicide.
Skilled trade/Whistleblower: $6,000+ sanctions award.
Hard Work
We simply work harder than most other attorneys. Our commitment to our clients means a sacrifice of leisure time and a low golf handicap. However, we are motivated by a single concept: The most prepared attorney usually prevails.
We Care Passionately About Our Clients
We are honored that our clients place their trust in us. We earn our pay by taking on our clients’ problems, so they do not have to suffer the burden. And sometimes our commitment to our clients extends beyond the practice of law. Ask us about the times where we have been prepared to “take a bullet” for the client – literally.
Personal Involvement
Going to the “scene of the crime,” finding and personally interviewing witnesses and digging up facts can make the difference. We often uncover important facts and defenses during an unannounced visit with key non-party witnesses. Some of our cases have been “blown open” during evening interviews with shady characters, illicit paramours (in loss of consortium cases) or an opportune visit to an ex-girlfriend’s home to learn the real story.
We have found that laypersons respond favorably to an attorney investigating the case. If these tasks are assigned to investigators, the significance of important facts will be missed. More importantly, this sort of contact between trial counsel and the witnesses sometimes results in an informal relationship that helps prevent witnesses from changing their testimony to support the plaintiff rather than the employer.
A Reputation for Tightfisted Settlement Practices
We are regarded as tightfisted when it comes to settlement. We have been told that we disregard the interests of “the bar” in general by not coughing up sufficient settlement dollars for opposing counsel. Six figure settlements have occurred only occasionally in our practice, and only when presented by very troublesome facts.
Justice and Ethics
If our client isn’t “guilty” it is our job to do everything ethically possible to make sure he or she wins. We recognize that being wrongly labeled as one who discriminates or harasses can have lifelong consequences. We can identify a number of times when we have literally “saved” the company from bankruptcy or the owner’s life savings from the prospect of an unjust verdict or inordinate settlement.
OUR COMMITMENT TO VALUE
We strive to make sure our bill reflects services with obvious value to the client. If we have recorded time that objectively does not seem to be worth the cost to the client, we have an easy solution: We don’t bill it. We believe our commitment to value is demonstrated by the following:
Lower Fees
Because we serve clients ranging from the smallest to the largest businesses, we have intentionally kept our rates as low as possible so they remain affordable to the entire range of clients. We realize other firms charge significantly more per hour for partner level trial attorneys. However, we are strongly motivated by a sense of loyalty. Accordingly, we are not willing to price ourselves beyond what our long-time clients can pay, because they have helped us build our firm. Nor do we feel it is fair to charge larger clients more for our services.
No Nonsense Billing
At Pilchak Cohen & Tice, P.C., we just don’t like certain billing practices. For example, our clients rarely see a bill that reports a “conference” between two attorneys. While we confer constantly on strategy, we do so on our time. Accordingly, if our clients are actually billed for a “conference,” they can be sure that it was a major strategy brainstorming session, where the attorneys have pulled out their resource files and contributed significantly to the meeting.
We have similar feelings about “double billing.” When two of our attorneys attend to a client at the same time, we make an intelligent decision on whether the client receives value from both attorneys. If the session merely educates a junior attorney (for example for a discovery project) we generally bill a single blended rate for the two attorneys.
Early Disposition Of Cases
We have identified many strategies for obtaining dismissal or settlement early in the litigation process. We have obtained many dismissals or nominal settlements through vigorous depositions, discovery, requests for admission and motions in limine. Of course, we also use motions for summary disposition to eliminate claims and damages.
Deposition Practices
We believe that there is no one better than us at obtaining deposition admissions that ultimately result in dismissal. And, we are known for vigorous questioning that makes most plaintiffs and their attorneys aware of the weaknesses in their cases. We have sometimes “won” the case at the deposition stage of the case:
Summary Dispositions/ Summary Judgment
It is our goal in every case to obtain dismissal of a plaintiff’s case on the law, so that a trial on the merits, and the prospect of a six or seven figure verdict is avoided. When complete dismissal is not possible, we often obtain “partial summary judgment” to minimize the damages available or to remove inflammatory issues from the case.
Requests for Admissions
We have found that posing requests for admissions, interrogatories concerning the basis for any denial and a letter citing the cost provisions of the request for admissions court rules sometimes resolves arguably frivolous cases.
Front Pay Cutoff
We have had unusual success eliminating the prospect of front pay awards, due to an employee’s failure to mitigate damages. When this occurs, settlement overtures usually follow, because one of the “big money” damage avenues is eliminated.
Motions in Limine
We have found that many plaintiffs have an unrealistic view of relevant evidence. When the court rules their evidence inadmissible, they usually have more realistic settlement discussions.