Litigious Battles: Choose Your Battles Wisely

Tackling litigious cases is harder than they make it look in the movies; it requires persistence, thorough scrutiny and a creative mindset to worm your way through to an outcome you and your client are satisfied with. Lawyer Monthly speaks with Ryan Moore, who has overcome the challenges of litigation in order to achieve the best results for his clients and this insightful interview reveals his skills behind it.

You are licensed to practice in several states – how do these states differ in regard to their legal system and regulations?

Being licensed in multiple jurisdictions requires being familiar with a vast range of rules, laws, and procedures in each Court system, and being able to convey those differences to national and international business clients. For example, in Washington State, if a County forecloses on a tax lien and conducts a sale, a secured lender loses its redemption rights the day before the sale takes place. This is different from Massachusetts where lenders retain redemption rights after a tax sale. I try to identify these costly differences, when pertinent, between differing state laws for clients as quickly as possible.

Moreover, are there any regulations you think each state could adopt from others, in order to enhance their courts and litigation process?

As a litigator, I am frequently filing documents in State and Federal Courts. In Federal Courts, there is a nationwide electronic filing system called PACER that allows licensed lawyers to electronically file across the country. Many State Courts lack an electronic docket where you can access or upload documents which results in a lot of rush deliveries to Court. If States could implement a required, uniform electronic system for Courts, costs would lessen for clients, and lawyers’ level of efficiency in filing documents would increase. Unfortunately, many US State Courts may not have the money to implement such a system and still only accept pleadings by hand or mail, rather than electronically.

As Thought Leader, can you share the vital skills behind tackling appeal cases, when you clerked for an appellate judge?

I learned about mental toughness which is critical to tackling cases and practicing law, in general. My judge was a trailblazer for female attorneys in Boston, Massachusetts. When she graduated from Harvard Law, she was hired by a prominent Boston firm which refused to put her name on the door, stationery, or in the phone book. As a result of the adversity she faced, she was a tough mentor. She taught me how hard people fight for the privilege to practice law, and that I should never take that privilege for granted. Mental toughness is essential to evaluating an appellate case objectively, especially where both sides often attempt to pull at the reader’s sympathies and biases.

My judge and I examined every case together. I learned that judges, even though they often review a case for a shorter period of time than the attorneys on a case, master the facts too.

How did your Bachelor of Arts give you the skills to be ahead of your game when practising law?

My thesis focused on a particular style of creative writing which involved duelling arguments, and in a way, was a precursor to what I now do in Court most days. Like creative writing, legal advocacy writing, while only conveying one perspective, must catch the reader’s eye. It is the number one way that lawyers evaluate each other’s work. Successful legal writers are effective and pithy so a reader who is unaware of the case can quickly understand the position of the client. Writing simply about complex business litigation is easier said than done and represents a constant challenge that one can always continue to improve.

Can you share your most challenging case yet and how you overcame the posed challenge?

My most challenging case yet involved a real estate partnership that was falling apart

because its two founding partners no longer trusted each other. We represented one of the two founders. A multi-million dollar opportunity arose that our client explained to the other partners, but they thought he did not disclose the opportunity well enough. The litigation focused on whether the partner had a fiduciary duty to disclose the opportunity and, if so, whether his level of disclosure was adequate.

We overcame the many challenges of this case through preparation and developing our client’s story through discovery. We were also able to capitalise on an advancement clause which required the partnership, including the other partners who were adversaries, to pay our legal fees. If the other partners did not advance money for legal fees through capital calls, then their interest was diluted. We ended up getting a good result through the combination of defending the adequacy of our client’s disclosure while simultaneously diluting the partners to the point where they had almost zero control over the partnership. I find that creativity and approaching problems from different angles are critical skills in litigation.

Ryan S. Moore
Attorney
1601 Fifth Ave., Ste. 850
Seattle, WA 98101
P: (206) 596-7838   F: (206) 596-7839
www.houser-law.com

Ryan Moore is a litigation attorney in the Seattle, Washington office of Houser & Allison, APC, a law firm with 13 offices across the United States. Before joining Houser, he clerked for an appellate Massachusetts judge and then worked for several years at an international law firm in Boston, Massachusetts and Irvine, California as a litigation associate. He is licensed to practice law in three States — Washington State, California, and Massachusetts — and several Federal Courts. His practice includes representation of banks, loan servicers, hedge funds, close corporations, and individuals in commercial litigation.

 Houser & Allison, APC Professional Corporation, is a commercial and business litigation law firm serving Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses.

We maintain a competitive advantage by retaining experienced attorneys dedicated to providing superior legal service to each of our clients. Our practice continues to grow because of the excellent reputation we have developed over the years – a reputation our clients are not afraid to talk about.