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.