Dan Nunley says that we lawyers should be living examples for our clients and not act out our clients' aggression. In his Oklahoma Family Lawyer Blog Dan states:
Recently I shared my opinion that the best lawyers are also nice people. I have also shared my belief that some attorneys think that lawyering requires incivility in their interactions with opposing counsel. These attorneys practice law with the misconception that real lawyering requires Rambo-like, scorched-earth strategies and tactics. Now it may be the case that these attorneys are not mean in and of themselves, but are simply effectuating the desires of their clients for a pound of flesh. Even so, attorneys are not supposed to be mere puppets on a string. Clients are not supposed to dictate legal tactics and strategies.
Some of these lawyers are indeed acting. It probably does not help that litigation is itself a cause of stress. However, we have all seen the lawyer that is the nicest, God fearing, person away from the office, but becomes a total manipulating jerk at work. There are a few judges that are this way as well. At least for the lawyer I have come to believe that this is partly marketing. They believe clients gravitate towards them because they are tough. Last summer I had a client fire me because she thought she was hiring "a junk yard dog and I turned out to be a poodle". Maybe, but I had effectuated an advantageous settlement for her. She did not want the money. She wanted a pound of flesh, and she was not getting it. In the end, she got neither. The point of this story is that I understand pressure applied by clients, but I would rather just loose the business.
And, as wrong as it is, I have to take some pleasure in an attorney's displeasure once in a while. There is this lawyer in Houston that is as we describe here. His thought his clients were demanding it of him. Maybe they were. But, clients do not wish to pay for this conduct they demand. Most, after all, are still bean counters at heart. The lawyer was canned by his law firm recently because their insurance company clients did not appreciate the cost to them involved in his tactics. You cannot be Rambo on a budget. There was a problem in the marketing message. I hope it was a lesson learned.
The bottom line is that clients have problems. Lawyers need to try to find a way to solve those problems. They just do not need to give up their civility to do it.
Dan is right. Live as an example of what the law and lawyers should be like.
I could not agree with you and Dan more. We should strive to be good lawyers and good people. The terms are not mutually-exclusive.
Posted by: Solo Dreamer | March 27, 2007 at 11:47 AM