I know this is not what people want to hear. I do not suggest that you should let it sour your life. You can be happy in the practice of law and still be skeptical of what is told you.
The bottom line is that the practice of law is a money game. It is not just a money game for you. It is a money game for everyone associated with, or who wants to be associated with the firm. But, if it is money game, then it needs to be your money game. It needs to be played so that you win. After all, there is a life behind the law firm. That life is yours. It is your family's.
Now, I will readily agree that you are not going to win if you do not treat your clients, courts, lenders, landlords, suppliers and consultants well. The real question is whether or not you should enter into a relationship with these people, groups, companies or organizations in the first place. You need to be first suspicious of every contact you make in the practice of law as to what the person or company wants from your firm, what it is going to cost you for the relationship suggested, and will that relationship eventually lead to larger revenues beyond the cost of the relationship.
Everybody wants something. Sometimes it is services or representation. Sometimes it is to lease space. Sometimes it is to sell you a new, shiny computer, books, electricity, cell phone service, advertising, club membership, prestige or whatever. But, whether it is money out of your pocket or time you cannot recover, it all boils down to money in the sense of profitability.
In short, nearly the entire world is after one thing -- money. Vendors might want to help you, but they want to help themselves as well. Some want to help themselves more than you, and that is the reason for the suspicion. Clients need help, but they are not always looking to pay you what you are worth. The goal of a capitalistic society is to maximize money earned or kept, while maximizing the benefits received to as well. You have got to recognize the motive. It is your motive in running a law practice, and it is the opposite motive of everyone else involved.
There is a saying in the gambling circles. It is, if you cannot look around the room and recognize the mark, then you are the mark.
And, I do not mean to convey that this is evil or obvious or that there is a lack of charity in this world. It is just that everyone needs to make a living. Many of us want a good living. Most people want to look at your firm to help them provide that living. But, a good living for others does not necessarily mean a good living for you.
Sometimes I believe that lawyers are so anxious to get on with their lives after starting a practice, to get their image of the practice in place and to actually represent clients, that they blow caution to the wind. They fail to ask themselves the bottom line question -- what is in it for me?
On everything offered, the attorney will be sold on the prestige of it, the comfort of it, the charity of it, the ease of it, and the convenience of it. But, this is where the suspicion should come in. If you are not being sold realistically on the profit to you or the cost to you, then the true benefit is being ignored, and it is being ignored for a reason. All else needs to be secondary or of no concern at all.
If there were a week and a half left in the month and all you had left was $100.00 to your name, do you not believe you would protect that $100.00?
You do that through suspicion. What is the motive of those that want my money or time? What does it mean to me?
When a client is asking you to represent them, they are essentially asking for money. It is your time and the expenses of your law firm, but that is money. Do not just agree. Look at their case with a great deal of suspicion as to what their motive is in retaining you. Is it to get free or cheaper representation? Are they serious about settling? Can they afford to pay the freight? Are you likely to recover the actual fees you have earned? Do they have a good case or defense, or are you likely to get stuck in a quagmire-type of case in which the time far exceeds your pay?
On the other side, identify landlords and salesmen for what they are. When they speak of benefits to you, what are they talking about? Is what they are selling absolutely necessary or is it a luxury? Will what they are locking you into in the near future likely increase your earning? Or, alternatively, will your earnings decrease if you do not bite.
The biggest disaster I see (and, I have been there myself over the years) are attorneys that simultaneously lack discretion in the cases they accept, fearing if they do not take on bad clients that they will not get the clients they need, and increasing overhead in a way that does not benefit their bottom line.
It does not matter what type of law you practice, the size or make up of the law firm you are with, or how long you have been practicing law. If you do not approach every transaction first with a good healthy dose of suspicion, you will eventually find yourself trapped in a low earning (money after expenses) environment that will be difficult to exit.
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