THE DIFFICULT CLIENT

BY BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY

We have all had to deal with that difficult client who does not return your phone calls, will not provide you information or documents, does not show up to meetings. These type of clients make our jobs a lot harder and more frustrating. If only these clients could realize that they are hurting their own case by acting this way.

Here are some ways you can protect yourself:

1. If you can collect a substantial retainer upfront. These kind of clients wont return your phone calls under certain circumstances, let alone if they owe you money.
2. When they are setting the appointment ask for as many documents, things you feel will be necessary for that type of case. Typically flakes will come to the appointment unprepared and unwilling to fill out any forms. This is  a red flag that they are lying or have someone to hide.
3. Be thorough with the questions you ask them during the initial meeting. If they do retain you go over some of these questions to see if their story changes.
4. They fail to return important phone calls and or emails concerning their case. When a client is playing disappearing acts that either means they are not serious about their case or they are lying about something.
5. When the client does call or email its for unrelated matters and at awkward times. This type of client expects you to solve all of their problems even the ones outside of the scope. They are expecting something that is truly unrealistic and do not ever feel that you will be able to fully take care of their case in the "best way."

 Keep your eyes and ears open. Learn from experience and spot those difficult clients from afar so that you can keep them away and stop them from wasting your time. Good Luck SOLO on your journey.

North Carolina Puts a new spin on the collateral resource Rule

By Tax Attorney

The basic collateral resource rule allows plaintiffs to receive the full amount of their medical bills from the defendants without discounting the bills with payments from insurance and other resources. 

THE NEW LAW

North Carolina House Bill 542, recently signed into law by Governor Bev Purdue, makes several significant changes to North Carolina law. The newly enacted Rule 414 of the North Carolina Rule of Evidence states that evidence of medical expenses is limited to evidence of the amounts actually paid by the PLAINTIFF to satisfy the bills, as well as the amounts actually needed to satisfy any unpaid and outstanding bills.

DISCUSSION 

Under this new collateral source rule, if your client has insurance or other means to pay the medical bills, the potential defendant will receive a credit for that against the total medicals. For example if your client’s hospital bill was $5,000  but his/her personal insurance paid $4800 of the bill leaving a balance of only $200, then you will only be able to count the amount that is unpaid in your medicals demand, i.e. $200.

As someone who does not normally take on personal injury claims, I find myself turning down the new cases that may pop up. It simply is not worth it as this point. Insurance companies are tightening their belts and settling for pennies on the dollar, even in cases where their clients are 100% at fault.

So until next time solos Good Luck on your journey! 

IRS WITHHOLDING EXEMPTIONS WHAT SHOULD YOU CLAIM?

People often come into my office once they owe a IRS or the State unpaid taxes and If they are a W2 employees? ... http://p.ost.im/p/erFVHN

Competition and Rivalry

By Bankruptcy Lawyer

As if being a solo was not hard enough with the stringent rules we have to follow, the client headaches, stressful workdays, income fluctuations but ah-ha we have to at times deal with the condemnation of older practitioners who feel that we do not have our place in "their world."

My experience is similar to that movie "Mean Girls." A group of solos in one particular practice area approached one of the Attorneys I associate with and stated that they were working to run me out because they did not like my fees or my advertising. These older solos have more clients than I do and charge more money. They felt as though I was cutting into their competition. All I can do is laugh. This is so childish that I don't feel that it should be worthy of a post; however, the backlash that i have received while practicing this particular area of law by other Attorneys and court officials has made me think that I am damned if i do and damned if I don't. I have to make a living and need to advertise to get the clients in and I can not justify charging more money than I do because it's simply not feasible for me.

So what do you do when your competition is systematically trying to run you off and file motions against you? and get other Judges and Court officials against you? You throw the wolves a bone. Although I think it was really immature for the wolves in sheep's clothing to not approach me personally, I will give them one concession, which is to not publish my fees. Although the publication of my fees are not against any ethics rules. BUT I will continue to advertise and do what I need to do to get my clients in.

Solos need to stick together and not work to tear each other down.

Good Luck Solo you will need it, there are hungry wolves out there searching for blood!

Rule 11 Sanctions

By Bankruptcy Lawyer

There is Federal rule which is a little more detailed and each state has their version of the Rule. In a sense it is a rule that provides Sanctions against Attorneys for filing frivolous claims and pleadings. The movant (persons requesting sanctions) must meet the standard and show the court the following:

Either:
"In analyzing whether a pleading, motion, or other paper meets the first certification requirement under Rule 11, the Court “must determine: ‘(1) whether the [party] undertook a reasonable inquiry into the facts and (2) whether the [party], after reviewing the results of his inquiry, reasonably believed that his position was well grounded in fact."Kohler Co. v. McIvor, 177 N.C. App. 396, 402, 628 S.E.2d 817, 822 (2006)

OR 

"T]he Rule 11 movant’s subjective belief that a paper has been filed for an improper purpose is immaterial in determining whether an alleged offender’s conduct is sanctionable.” Id. (citing Taylor v. Taylor Prods., Inc., 105 N.C. App. 620, 632, 414 S.E.2d 568, 576–77 (1992))."


Further, a brief is required in North Carolina to accompany the motion laying out the grounds for sanctions.

In Federal Court an addition requirement must be met:
"A motion for sanctions must be made separately from any other motion and must describe the specific conduct that allegedly violates Rule 11(b). The motion must be served under Rule 5, but it must not be filed or be presented to the court if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service or within another time the court sets. If warranted, the court may award to the prevailing party the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred for the motion."

Please keep in mind it is extreme burden to meet whether you are in state or federal court and should only be used in extreme cases. The court does not favor these motions and more often than not will not award them.

Practice Areas

By Bankruptcy Attorney

I have been an Attorney for several years and I have gone through several practice areas since opening my own law firm.

I originally had three (3) or so practice areas which i decided i would enter into because they were "hot" at the time.

I recently spoke to a solo who had been practicing for 20 something years and he told me that he had managed to stay alive by changing his practice areas with the times.


Here are my recommendations:

1. Do what interests you, because if you hate what you do it will show.

2. Change and alter an area or two as the market changes.

3. Stay informed. I know CLE is boring, but sometimes it can be extremely helpful. I am constantly updating myself on changes in the law.

4. Have a mentor in your corner for each area of law you practice so that you can pick their brain when you need to. Listservs can be extremely helpful. I head one solo listserv and I am on two others. We freely ask questions and exchange referrals.

5. Market yourself. It does not cost money sometimes to attend networking events or to call up your friends and let them know you are now solo and what you do. Create a website and send out some promotional information.


Good Luck solo, its a competitive market out there!

Practitioner Etiquette : Part 2

By Charlotte Attorney

Often times we get so caught up trying to defend our clients and put notches under our belt that we forget the other Attorney deserves respect.

Lets face it everyone makes mistakes, lefts face it. Everyone has a law degree and a bar license, which is pretty hard to get. That being said, everyone deserves respect.

Do your best

Follow the local and procedure rules

It's ok to try to frervently represent your client, but do not be rude or disrespectful to another Attorney

Get on the Phone talk to the other Attorney a lot of times things get lost in translation over email and pleadings

Your client has a goal and their client has a goal. Find out what their client's bottom line and what your client's is.

Talk to your client about realistic outcomes and goals.

If opposing counsel and yourself get off to a bad start, try to workout the differences and work together to get the case resolved with ethic rules in mind.

Good Luck Solo hard work is only part of the job, relationships is the other portion!

Unconscionabilty of Law Schools

By Bankruptcy Attorney

Every year new law schools are springing up and charging high tuition and fees. Why does the ABA allow this to occur? There is a supply/demand imbalance. There are fore more Attorneys than there are jobs and opportunities. The real reason is that Law Schools are businesses and they feed the ABA $ to keep their accreditation.

Take Charlotte School of Law For example. This is one of the most evident cases of greed. Tuition here is somewhere between $22,000-$30,000.00 a year. The received their accreditation sometime in 2008 or 09. It is a Delaware non-profit corporate organization and is run and owed by a series of investment companies in florida! What does this mean? A lot of people are going to lawschool these days thinking that they will get out and be able to get a good job. Good LUCK. Even biglaw attorneys (larger firms) are being laid off and forced to hang their singles and start anew.

So when you sit there and think about your student loan balance and how you will be paying that off for the rest of your life, think well at least i got a law degree! And that's just invaluable isnt?


Our contribution Attorney represents clients in North Carolina with: bankruptcy court, filing for bankruptcy, chapter 7 bankruptcy, foreclosure defense, chapter 13 bankruptcy representation, and loan modifications.

Reinventing the Wheel

By Traffic Attorney

One thing I have learned over the past couple of years is that as a young Attorney, you have to think of fresh new ideas to market your firm. The days of newspaper ads being the end all be all are over!

These days you have to go to marketing events. Be careful who you give your card to here, they may end up harrassing you for their services.

Advertise on the internet.

Send out newsletters

Give referral incentives.

Print promotional items: shirts, cards, magnets, ect.

Network with other Attorneys who are in different practice areas.

Whatever you do don't give up! Hanging your shingle is no easy task!

Official Google Blog: Calling from Gmail now in 38 languages, with lower rates to over 150 destinations

Official Google Blog: Calling from Gmail now in 38 languages, with lower rates to over 150 destinations

So you have decided to market yourself on the internet

By Charlotte Bankruptcy Attorney

In this day in age you better have a website if you want to reach the young technology clientele. Here are some simple tips about start, maintaining a website.

1. If you do purchase a marketing package from the big dogs lawyers.com; or findlaw.com; realize that you are going to paying a lot $$. These companies create hollow websites that are backed by their servers which have high google recognition. What this means is so long as you are with them, your website will be topped ranked and the minute you can not afford to pay for their website servers, your website will fall the bottom of the ranks.

2.  If you do decide to go with a web designer make sure you research and look for someone who can not only build your site, but also has a little bit of background in search engine optimization. To at least give your website a fighting chance you need to have some kind of chance to survive. In the world of lawyer's websites only the attorney's with the biggest budgets and the best website teams survive.

3. Find a reputable good web designer. There are lot of people out there calling themselves "web designers" these days and they will take your money and fade to black. There is no regulation of web designers nor is any training necessary. Anyone can say they are a designer and advertise their services.

Here are some dos and don't dos regarding finding a designer
1. Read up on website design and get some background knowledge about what is you want to do with your site.

2. Finding the designer: I personally think that the number one thing to investigate is your prospective website designers ranking in google. A business website needs to rank extremely well to an effective marketing tool. If you know someone who has a website that you like, ask them for a referral. I have had no successful finding reputable people on craigslist, but you may find someone good on sites like guru or freelance.

2. Ask each designer for references. Be careful about this, lots of designers will do some websites for free to get business and have family and friends vouch for them. Also some people will charge you to do the work and often contract with freelancers to do the work. This will cost you more money.

3. Request several quotes and make sure the quotes entail what the designer will do: i.e. design, seo (keyword, title, install widgets to your site, ect). Review the quotes and the cheapest designer may not be the best, look at his portfolio.

4. Make sure you clearly define what you want the website to contain. What this means is that you will most likely have to write most of the content yourself that you want to appear on your website. Usually designers charge extra if they have to find a content writer to fill in the pages of your website. Basic Pages should be your home page, contact page, a few content pages, with your practice areas and background information on you as an attorney.

5. Send your designer examples of websites that catch your attention. Also google a few sites in your practice area to see what their sites contain and look like. By no means am i telling you to commit plagiarism.

Good luck on your quest to build your website dreams,

Sincerely,

Bankruptcy Attorney

Overcoming obstacles as a Solo

Posted by Bankruptcy Attorney

As if being a solo is not hard enough, but when you add being 1) young, 2) a woman, 3) and minority, things start to become complicated.

On a daily basis I admonished, questioned, by older white male solos who see me as inexperienced, inept, and inferior. I am by no means crying or calling every male white Attorney racist. I am merely stating fact that I am treated differently by the Attorneys I come in contact with on my opposing matters.

I am as respectful as I can be to my peers and colleagues. In my eyes I went to law school and passed the same bar exam as they did. I am not sure if this static is intimidate me or just out of pure ignorance. Either way, I find that following the rules, responding to only those things that require my response, and finding peace with the fact that these individuals ultimately can not value the quality of my work or define me as an Attorney or person a good way to deal with the mud slinging.

confessions of solo.......................

Woe's of a young solo

by Traffic Attorney

Often times when you are a young solo (less than 5 years of practice) older solos do one of two things: 1. take you in and show you the ropes or 2. intimidate and bully you.

If the older solo is on the opposing side, more than likely its #2 that you will be experiencing. This bullying effects the outcome of your case, your stress level, and sometimes your confidence. Let me give you an example.

I was recently working on a domestic case where my client was the Plaintiff and was suing her child's father for custody and support. Nearly, four months into the case the Defendant hired Attorney X who has been practicing longer than I have been alive. Attorney X then proceed to delay further court proceedings by continuing dates. In addition, Attorney X didnt provide me discovery in a timely fashion as I had done on his requests. I mistakenly trusted Attorney X to place the case on the trial calendar and then learned that the kept on the administrative calendar in order to delay further. Attorney X did untimely served his subpoenas for his witnesses only two days before trial. At the hearing the Judge awarded joint custody to the parties and provided a date for the order to be entered. Opposing counsel submitted a draft of the order and I in return submitted some changes to the order to opposing counsel nearly thirty days before the entry of the order date. Opposing counsel was at his home in Costa Rica on the entry date so I had the order entered and signed by the judge. Attorney X was furious because he said I hadn't consulted with him to make sure the order should have been entered. Attorney X had plenty of opportunity to review the revised order and did not. He saw me in court on another matter, and yelled at me in front of other attorneys and a Judge and demanded I had the order vacated. Initially i agreed, but then i stood my ground and refused. The Judge that entered the order agreed with me. The moral of the story is that your job as an Attorney is to represent your client and their interests and not to serve the interests and the ego of some old fart Attorney who is used to bullying others to get their way.

Keep on pushing Solo you are coming into your own and soon your woes will turn into positives.!

BEWARE OF THE CRYING CLIENT

BY Charlotte Attorney

If you have been practicing a few years, I am sure you have a few war stories and have been burned by a client or two.

Here is a scenario for you: Client A came in regarding a divorce case. Her husband had filed for custody and she wanted to sue for custody/child support of their teenage child; distribution of the marital assets; and for alimony.  In the middle of the consultation, Client A began crying and I offered her a tissue. She explained that she worked part-time and needed a reasonable retainer, which most of my retainers are. I felt sorry for client A and reduced the upfront retainer required to commence her case, although my hourly rate remained the same. Client A agreed to the arrangement and promptly signed the retainer agreement and paid the first deposit. Weeks went by Client A's retainer was used up and had a balance. Client paid partial payment on the balance and I continued to work away and this occurred another month and again client A made a small payment toward balance. Client A's case was in the pretrial stage and I had spoken to the opposing party regarding settlement. I drew up a settlement agreement and Client A stated she did not want to settle and wanted to know how much it would be to continue litigation. I pointed out to Client A that the opposing party was going to agree to pretty much what a Judge award and that she had an unpaid balance with my office. I ended up withdrawing from the case. You say why would a Client that owes you money want to incur more fees, when her current fees are unpaid? Consequences, she did not have any. I continued to work on account that was in the red for weeks. So in the client's mind, I was writing off my time. For all intense purposes I was. Clients must realize that you are professional and your time is valuable. Remind them that you will not be able to continue to represent them if their account remains unpaid. In my four, almost five years of experience the crying client is the most irrational, unreasonable, and least willing to pay for your time!


Here are some tips when Client A comes in the door crying:

1. Offer them a tissue AND
2. Provide them with a realistic expectation of  facts and possible outcome of their case AND
3. Offer them a dose of harsher reality by explaining that Legal services are not free and they will need to pay your fees upfront and or when they come due. I recommend getting all of your fees if not the majority from the crying client because they tend to be emotional and will email/call you on impulse and incur more legal fees overtime than a more rational client will.

Attorney Maxwell practices Bankruptcy, Divorce, and Traffic Law  in Charlotte North Carolina.

DOWNTOWN AS A SOLO

BY Bankruptcy Lawyer

Downtown for many Attorney's (particularly solos) can be a stressful time. Particularly if you are worried about overhead, salaries, and your own personal expenses.

Here are some things I focus on when I have some downtown and things have slowed a bit:

1. I take a look at my cases and clients and see which files need to be closed out 
2. Research and Reevaluate my current marketing strategy and revamp it 
3. Set some new goals for the remainder of the year as well as next
4. Meet with other colleagues and catch up, discuss their different marketing strategies 
5. Evaluate my staff and provide some kind of review 
6. Readjust office hours 
7. Send former clients media about my current promotions and services 
8. Contact other businesses to see if relationships can be formed 
9. Take care of any personal issues i may have: doctor appointments, calls, ect
10. Take a look at my budget and adjust as necessary 

As always good Luck in Solo World~!

Seven Ways to Market to the Wealthy

by Suzane Muusers

posted by Charlotte Attorney

 

Wouldn’t it be nice to make over your business so that you are attracting wealthy clients who willingly pay your fees, refer you to other wealthy clients, and sing your praises to friends and associates? 

This article focuses on the top five industries that benefit from targeting the wealthy, seven ways to market to the wealthy, and how you can change your thinking to attract wealthy clients.

You may want to review the companion article Attracting Wealthy Clients where we covered who are the wealthy, the difference between wealthy and affluent, the main concerns of the wealthy, and what the wealthy want. 

Top five industries that benefit from targeting the wealthy and affluent

• Financial services, estate planning – the wealthy have complicated lives that need managing and planning
• Luxury travel – the wealthy want options that take care of all the details and they are willing to pay for it
• Luxury gifts – despite having the internet to peruse, finding good quality goods is not so simple
• Real estate – 40% of the wealthy plan to purchase a second or third home in the next five years
• Home design, remodeling, and furnishings – since they need two or more of everything, they spend to acquire more things

Seven Ways to Market to the Wealthy

• Use the correct language in your marketing.  Don’t refer to the wealthy as retirees.  They have redefined how they spend their time and many don’t plan to retire at age 60.  Their idea of retirement is to do something meaningful with their lives well into their 70’s and above.
• Use images of vital, healthy, adult people in your marketing.  The wealthy don’t want to be catered to by twenty-something’s in skimpy outfits. Your front office employees should mirror the active demographics of your target client.
• Be an absolute expert at what you do.  The wealthy don’t want to waste money on inexperience.  Certifications and credentials are a plus.  Be an expert at travel.  An expert at financial planning. An expert in wine knowledge.  An expert in the latest dental procedures. An expert at saving clients’ money on taxes.  Own your expertise and don’t be afraid to say it!
• Offer a money back guarantee.  The wealthy want assurances that you offer the best product or service for the money.  They don’t want to be taken advantage of.  Most will not take advantage of the money back guarantee, but will feel assurance from the offer.
• Present yourself and your business appropriately.  Have a top notch brand that’s well designed and positioned. Come on, admit it – you know when you see a quality brand.  It makes an impression on you, whether consciously or subconsciously.  Quality pays.  Period. So be ready to invest in your brand. I highly recommend the services of Art Guy Creative | Web Design | Branding.
• Make sure your brand communicates a major benefit.  If it’s not obvious, you are not doing your job.  Set your business apart by using your brand to give wealthy clients a vision of the future if they chose you.
• Offer concierge style options for the affluent.  Many wealthy clients want privilege or options that others don’t have. Private membership with a limited number of members and luxury benefits and special programs designed for them will position you as the right choice. 

How can you change your thinking to attract wealthy clients?

Use your website effectively and reach out to clients via your company’s website.  Make sure you are crystal clear about what you want clients to do when they get to your website.  Build your list and optimize your site for the search engines. Keep in touch with your clients regularly via an ezine delivered electronically. It doesn’t matter what business you are in, you can use a website effectively.

Think globally.  We are an international culture that is on the move.  Americans move every five years. There may not be hoards of wealthy folk where you live, but with the internet you can reach prospects all over the nation.

Upgrade your business and you will upgrade your clients. Template business cards and websites will only get you so far.  Upgrade your image and you will automatically upgrade the quality of clients you attract.

Upgrade your thinking.  The wealthy are just like you and me.  They are humans with busy lives and they need your products and services.  Just because you have never targeted them before doesn’t mean that they don’t need you.  Work on yourself and your self esteem.  Work on your expertise so that you can move easily in their circles.

Be willing to spend more to attract quality clients.  Wealthy clients didn’t become wealthy by taking short cuts in business. Know the value of being open to market and advertise where you will reach quality clients.  You may need to invest time and money in marketing, materials, events, reports, technology, and image.

Be willing to do the work.  There is no easy answer.  There is no magic bullet.  If you want to play with the big boys, you must be willing to do the work.  In the early days of my coaching business I took on clients without realizing that they were hiring me to give them the one magic marketing technique that would solve all their problems.  There is work to do folks.  If a successful business was easy to achieve everyone would be in business for themselves.

Create a special referral program just for the affluent.  At this level of clientele, you must coddle your clients.  Make a BIG fuss when you receive a referral from an affluent client.  You must create and manage a SYSTEM that measures referrals.   Do you know how many referrals you have received year to date?  If you don’t, you are not measuring adequately.  Your system should tell you how many referrals per month and year and who they were from.  You should have frank discussions with your clients about the type of person you would like to be referred to and you must figure out how you can get more referrals from those not giving them to you already.

Conclusion: It’s far easier to grow a successful business by targeting the higher end of the market rather than dealing with difficult consumers who care mostly about price. While your competitors are rolling around on the floor picking up pennies, make sure you are positioned for fabulous success in business by creating a new strategy that will target the upper end of the market.  It’s worth it! 

Tips for Volunteers Representing Low-Income Clients

posted by charlotte bankruptcy attorney
By Theodore O. Fillette, III
Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc.
July 6, 2007
This essay is primarily for new pro bono attorneys. It is based upon my experience
representing very low-income people and working with volunteer attorneys for many years.
Some advocates for low-income people wish, consciously or not, their clients to be
virtual “Cinderellas”: hard-working, humble, candid, conscientious, and victimized by a wicked
stepmother or other evildoer. I believe that all the Cinderellas have already retained Perry
Mason or other T.V. attorneys.

The rest of us should heed the words of a veteran pro bono lawyer and former president
of the Mecklenburg County Bar who has introduced pro bono service to new volunteers with this
admonition:
“When clients retain us with a check, we are willing to accept their ‘warts’
and help find ways to compensate for those flaws. We owe pro bono
clients the same consideration.”
There are no clients with perfect memory, judgment, record-keeping, morals or manners. If there
were, they would not need us.

The general reality is that indigent clients often suffer from multiple challenges. Their
lack of expendable funds affects their health care, transportation, maintaining employment,
keeping records, and other basic functions we take for granted. Many low-income folks have
little or poor education. Many suffer from addictions and/or mental illnesses. Many experienced
or continue to suffer from domestic violence or neglect that leaves them with various physical
and emotional scars. In other words, their lives will be dysfunctional in varying degrees, and
many aspects of those problems will make it more difficult to assist them.

Here are some tips for helping the advocate identify some of these challenges and
overcome them. You have to build trust early. Start by telling the client that you want to help.

Do not begin with 10 questions about their background. As soon as possible, you should
distinguish yourself from other authority figures such as teachers and social workers that clients
may have experienced as judgmental and critical of their behavior.
There are many issues regarding communication. Give the clients a card and find out
immediately how they best communicate. They may not read well. They may not initiate
communication at all. Some folks who have not had lawyers think that lawyers will just
magically show up in court and fix the problem. Explain how you will need to learn the facts
and prepare for trial. Encourage them to report changed circumstances. Return their calls
quickly or have others do so. This will create confidence that you really do care about their
problem.
Listen carefully to the client’s stated goals. If they sound unrealistic or abstract (“I just
want justice”), help them identify concrete goals. Don’t be afraid to educate the client on other
objectives and legal rights that might help them, especially if their stated goals are not very
feasible. Help the client get a broad understanding of their legal context.
As soon as it is feasible, try to understand the larger reality of the client’s family. This
includes their financial circumstances. It includes any particular problems of health or
environmental hazards. It includes knowing who is in the household. If you will probably
litigate over the conditions in the client’s home, visit the dwelling as soon as possible.
It may also help to identify other helpers in the lives of the clients. Sometimes these are
relatives. Sometimes they are social workers or neighbors. Find out who might provide
transportation to hearings and child care on the day of trial.
After you have covered these bases and you are getting focused on preparation for a
hearing, do not be afraid to explore key issues of credibility. Anticipate what your opponent will
discover. Check the criminal records of the members of the household. Review the civil index
for previous lawsuits. When you have learned of potential problems regarding credibility, raise
them by saying to the client: “The other side’s lawyer may ask you about this.”
When it comes to potential settlement negotiations, many low-income clients appear to
fall at the extremes of a wide spectrum. Unfortunately, some of the most sympathetic and
deserving clients will be tempted to take an offer of a nominal amount. At the other end, those
clients with the biggest faults and least merit seem to think that their claims have to be worth a
million dollars. In order to orient your client to a realistic settlement range, focus the client’s
attention on the decision maker and the elements of proof required. Do not let the client think
that he or she is arguing with you about the value of their case. Continue to focus on who you
must persuade on the value of the claims. Help the client focus on his or her real goals. Help the
client understand the competing interests of the opponent. Give the client a realistic sense of
what the decision maker is willing to deliver.
When it is time to prepare for a hearing, pay attention to the logistical details that will
enable your client able to participate in the hearing effectively. Talk about what is appropriate
dress. Make sure the client has adequate day care and will not bring small children to a hearing.
Make sure that they have transportation to your office or to the hearing. Explain the importance
of arriving on time.
Finally, never miss the opportunity to recognize your clients’ contributions to the effort.
Praise them for locating the witnesses and exhibits. Appreciate their securing day care for the
trial date. Compliment their Sunday dress. Recognize their courage. Their ordeal may be a
turning point in their lives. And yours.

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