Nothing ever amazes me more than how clients sometimes treat their own lawyers. Going through a divorce is tough. I wouldn't wish a divorce on anyone. Clients are emotional. The attorneys are emotional. The Judges can be difficult. But one thing that is amazing is how many times clients want to argue with their own lawyers.
I have taken over cases for other lawyers hundreds of times, and not once has a client told me his or her former lawyer did a good job. It is inevitable that when a client switches lawyers, they don't like their old lawyer. Why is that? It is simple. They either lost a hearing, lost the case, or didn't tell the client what they wanted to hear. Usually the client owes the former lawyer money. In any case, it makes for a bad situation.
What is even more amazing is when your own client tells you, as their current attorney, what to do and how to do it. I received an email today from a new client that essentially told me and my office exactly what we were going to do and how we were going to do it, and that if we didn't agree with everything she said, then she would get another lawyer. We were told flat out the we worked for her and she was in charge. This is the nice version of the email.
Unfortunately, what the client wanted was not realistic or reasonable, or even legally possible. As a result, she got what she wanted. We told her to get another lawyer. It is not that we did not want to help her, but we could not do what she wanted.
The bottom line is that we are a team with our clients. We work together to achieve the desired result. We aren't indentured servants that must do whatever a client wants, even if it is wrong, just because he or she wants it. Our job is to protect our own clients, sometimes from themselves. Our job is not to be a slave to a client's unreasonable and improper demands. Thus, if you hire us as your lawyer to represent you, let us do our job properly. We will do our best to win the case for you. Just give us a little help.
No comments:
Post a Comment