Outstanding Response to A Lawsuit

Usually when I analyze a defendant's public statements about a new lawsuit, I am complaining that the release sounds defensive and technical -- in short, like it was drafted by lawyers. This time, however, I may have found the perfect response to a lawsuit involving a child. In 2019, a complete stranger picked up a child and threw him from a balcony at the Mall of America. The child survived the several-story landing, but he was seriously injured. His family recently filed suit against the mall, alleging that it should have done more to prevent the perpetrator from being in the mall.

The Mall of America issued a statement about the lawsuit that was a close to perfect as I have ever seen. It started with concern about the child rather than the usual boilerplate about its own safety efforts. Then it moved to the lawsuit and said simply, "Legal matters are not unexpected in a situation such as this. It is a process that we will continue to work through and hopefully find resolution for all parties."  Then it ended with more good wishes for the injured child.

All lawyers should read the full statement here, and learn from it.