What I wish people knew about being a lawyer
- Jun 5, 2017
- 3 min read
My clients battles are not my battles
I will be a zealous advocate for you, but I will also be brutally honest and tell you when you are being unreasonable, unjust, or unfair. I will not adopt your beliefs about your adversary. I will not attack someone or compromise my personal values to help you “win”.
Winning is not my goal, a fair result is my goal.
I can’t guarantee you an outcome, no matter how many times or ways you ask me to. I can’t control the external forces in your case: i.e. the other party, the other lawyer, the judge, the jury.
I don’t just sue people
A large portion of my day is spent on “people” problems not “legal” problems. Sometimes people just need someone to talk to. That’s where the “counselor” portion of my job kicks in.
When a child is crying at the loss of a parent, I listen to the stories of Christmas and the parents' quirks there is no law involved. I’m just being a listening ear, someone to cry to, to give a pat on the hand and an occasional hug. To let them know it will be okay. I am someone to laugh with and sometimes I take the abuse when a person is frustrated and stressed.
I help people with “adulting” and try to help them solve life's problems without running to court. Picking up the phone to talk it out, sending a letter to resolve an issue, getting people in a room to talk it out, calling someone to get a simple answer.
Adulting is hard and sometimes it takes a third party to logically find the next step to take or to help cooler heads prevail.
"Happy law” is my favorite: estate planning, real estate, corporate. Where people are getting something they want or getting rid of something they don’t. Ninety percent of the time its conflict free and clients are happy with the results because they can generally be controlled.
The law is not swift
Lawsuits drag on, and on, and on, and on. Justice is not swift. It is time-consuming, stressful, tedious, and generates a ton of paperwork. Before you say “let’s just sue the S.O.B’s” consider not only the financial costs but the costs of your time. Clients have to “do the work” too in a lawsuit.
I am not rich
Lawyers eat what they kill. I am a small business owner, an employer of nine people who have bills to pay and kids to feed and lives to live outside my office. My employees come first. I have to make the tough choices of when and how much to charge. I have to be fair, but cover my expenses. I provide good benefits, make building improvements, and give back to my community. I am not rolling in dough. I have student loans and a mortgage. I get paid last.
You are not my only client
But I hope you feel that way, because I strive to provide exceptional service, as does my staff. But, I may get 100 emails and 50 phone calls in one day that all have to not only be responded to in 24 hours but the work those calls generate has to also get done.
Your problem is important to me … but if you are not “on fire” I may not get to your file for a few days. This does not mean that your file is not important to me or that it doesn’t deserve my attention, diligence, experience, and expertise. It does mean that someone has called me before you to do a project. Or, that someone is “on fire” and their file can’t wait to be addressed. Court deadlines do not bend and have to be met. Deals work on deadlines or opportunities can be lost. I do the very best I can to make every client feel important and to not only meet but exceed their expectations, but there are only so many resources available in the day.
This guest post is part of a series of posts tackling this topic. If you would like to read more, see below in "related posts" or click on Guest Bloggers in the categories to your right. If you would like to contribute to this series, email AuthenticallyAmy.
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