When I went to my first baseball game with my grandpa he explained not only the rules of the game, but how we buy our popcorn and sodas, how to cheer, how to root for the batter and distract the other team. There were actually rules to observe as a spectator to the sport!
RULES RULES RULES
Attorneys have rules to abide by to make arguments before the bench. Sometimes it’s hard for clients to understand that an attorney, while loving to argue just can’t go to court and arbitrarily file documents. They don’t understand that just because it was found on Google or some dot com website that it is ‘the’ answer to their case. An attorney must look after their client’s best interest even if it appears to be the worst thing that can happen.
About a year ago we had a client come into the office who wished to fight some relatives on their father’s estate. It seemed to be a cookie cutter case. The reality was that they didn’t want the others to have anything from the estate and was going to fight on every matter. They wanted the attorney to file a suit that had no chance of winning in court, but could put the attorney’s license in jeopardy.
A client really doesn’t care if the attorney loses a case.”They’re getting paid.” They think to themselves, “He has a swanky office. He must be doing well.” But if an attorney loses their license it means they cannot practice law again.
POINT OF ORDER
Even if they do file the suit and it’s thrown out of the court, it may mean the loss of integrity to the courts making it harder for him to argue before the bench.
In this case, if he filed this suit that the client found on a website, they would not only lose thousands of dollars- because the estate was paying the attorney who was going to fight the frivolous lawsuit- but the entire case.
Attorneys all want to be Perry Mason or Denny Crane. Be an active part of the process of your legal battle. If you find yourself not trusting your attorney- go ahead- get a second opinion. Then either fire your lawyer or trust him to do the job he needs to do to win your case. When you win, he wins.