Excerpts from Everything I Needed To Know I Learned After Law School Look for the weaknesses in your case Weaknesses??? WHAT weaknesses? Always look for the holes in your own case. Otherwise, how can you fix/minimize them? Too many lawyers assume the validity of their client’s version of the facts without discrimination. This isn’t to say that all your clients will lie to you, but they will put the best spin on their story, and of course, they are not objective. It isn’t a pleasant experience to get blindsided at court because your client’s story doesn’t bear scrutiny. You won’t enhance either their case or your professional reputation if you forget this rule. The case plan is a good place to start looking for the weaknesses. Of course, your opposing counsel will be only too happy to point more of them out to you when you have your first phone conversation or meeting. By the way, just because your case has weaknesses, and you can’t figure out a way to fix them, don’t concede them all. Remember to keep something in your back pocket to concede in settlement negotiations. Also, the judge is never going to give you everything you ask for; so make sure you have a couple of throw away issues you don’t mind losing (as long as they aren’t totally stupid and indefensible: that goes to credibility). The importance of being consistently professional Family lawyers are unique in the bar in that most of us represent both husbands and wives. As a result, we have to be able to argue both sides of the issue. Clients will sometimes want you to take a position that you don’t feel comfortable with. Sometimes it is because they think that is what the law ought to be, even though you’ve told them that’s not the way it is. Never take a stupid position just because your client wants you to. Remember, you’re building your professional reputation every time you interact with a colleague or a judge. It’s your reputation on the line, not your client’s. If you violate this rule and allow your professional credibility to be undermined, you and your future clients will be paying for it for years. When I would tell a client the position he wanted me to take on his behalf was directly contrary to the law, and he said I should “try it anyway” my answer was always the same: “Presumably the reason you came to me was because of my reputation with the courts. That was developed over years of appearing before the judges and letting them know that I know my craft and don’t make untenable arguments. I’m not going to blow that reputation for myself and my future clients for any one case, even yours.” If they insist, they need to find another lawyer. Distinguishing a gripe from a legal issue There isn’t a legal redress for every “wrong.” This is especially true for all the perceived wrongs in an intimate relationship that has gone sour. You can’t fix everything. When you tell a client the bad news, some of them will imply that you could if you were a really good lawyer. Don’t fall into this trap, and don’t let them make you feel there’s something wrong with you if you can’t save them from the consequences of all the stupid decisions they’ve made in the past. Your job is to deal with the legal issues. Not all problems lend themselves to legal solutions. If she married a jerk, you can’t change the jerk into the guy she thought he was when she married him, or the one she wishes she’d married instead. As a lawyer you take the facts and the personalities as you find them. If what they really want is a personality transplant for a spouse, there are ways to remind the client that it was his choice: “I’m sure you wish you had chosen a different parent for your children” “I’m sure you never saw this side of his/her personality before you married” Your job is to resolve your clients’ legal problems to the best of your ability, not to give them a “do over” on life or become a guarantor for their own poor choices. Never take on more cases than you can realistically handle. Most family lawyers blow this one. They let accounts receivable get out of hand, then need to take on more cases to get the retainers to cover cash flow while they are waiting to get paid on the old cases. The problem is that when they do this, they have compounded the problem. After the new retainer is exhausted, they have another.
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