Golden Rule

Jim Golden wants to radically change how catastrophic trucking accident lawsuit claims are handled by his trucking company. He wants to “do the right thing” for both the claimant and his company. Golden is a former litigator with 16 years of experience defending corporations in wrongful death lawsuits. After becoming disenchanted with the traditional “deny, delay, defend” method of litigation, which is aggressive, adversarial, costly, and drags the process out for as long as possible, Golden decides to re-think how he practices law. Golden wants to introduce a “negotiation counsel” approach to claims where his company is at fault. Initially, he is unsure of specific tactics, but envisions non-adversarial, communicative, and problem-solving interaction. He believes that if all parties involved in a claim engaged in a joint problem solving manner (rather than as a win/lose contest), practical, just, and emotionally satisfying agreements can be reached much more quickly. Teaching Note for HBS No. 909-017.