I work very hard to be a good lawyer, but part of being a good lawyer also means being an ethical lawyer and actually caring about my clients' cases. Sometimes, I care more than they do, but that's a different story. However, I take pains to do well, keep my nose clean, and follow rules.
Now today I was supposed to have started a trial. But I did not and it will start on Monday. It will start on this Monday because yestreday I happened to call opposing counsel who said to me, "Oh yeah, I was gonna call you - listen, I'm probably not showing up tomorrow?"
Huh?
"Yeah, I got another trial in Rancho, so I won't be at ours . . ."
Huh?
Well, I did show up today - and argued the riot act at the judge who sanctioned the other attorney (who was on the phone, calling in from the other courthouse), making him pay for my time there. And you know what? I am sure that he did not care. The other attorney just shrugged, got ready to write the check, and went on his merry way with his other trial.
I don't get it. Why do I bother sometime? Why do I worry about doing the right thing and I see attorneys who are absolute buffoons?
If you need a lawyer, the best way to find one is to find someone you trust and ask for a referral. I would not pick an attorney from the Yellow Pages. Frankly, there are a lot of whores (yes, that's right, that's the word I used) who will take your money and do nothing for you. Get a reference, and if you need to retain one, have a consultation with several - this is a person into whose hands you are going to place your life's matter. And if you have to pay for a consultation, do so - remember the old adage, you get what you pay for. An attorney offering a free consultation and a low retainer is not your best deal if they are incompetent.
And yet - it is a rare day a lawyer is disbarred for mere incompetence. A felony conviction? Dipping into the ol' trust fund? Sure, that will do it - but not simply being bad at being a lawyer.
5 comments:
Wholly CRAP!!! A definite Red Zone moment...all the time prepping and thinking your stuff over, then THAT?!? Man, I'd be po'd, too.
That's one thing CA does right - sanctioning the sh*tbirds, I must say. But I found FAR too often that those of that ilk LIE and the client will be billed for that atty's time at the "hearing" (calling it a TRC, whatever) to cover for the sanctions the LAWYER earned. I had a boss, early on, who showed me my office and immediately gave me a slew of dog cases (as happens when you're the new guy) but with all kinds of serious ethical and even malpractice issues...all of which I was expected to fix or take the fall on for him in court. He was the master of exactly that sort of deceptive billing, and after about 6 months of chaos, lost sleep, and extreme damage control as I gradually figured out what an unfixable mess it was, I left a letter of resignation on his chair one day and never went back. :)
Here in NY, there's no fast tracking, no one here in yokelsville ever actually adheres to discovery deadlines, you can call the judge at home and ask for a continuance and GET it...and I hate to admit it, but even though I am pretty much a part-timer anymore, it is making me lazy. But still more diligent than most!
Just yesterday I had a SUM arbitration (a client falling in the cracks between NY's crazy no-fault vs uninsured motorist laws) that has been reset 3 times since we filed last April. Now, this is the first one I've done - ever - in this subject area, so I spent more than a little off time researching the law, reading articles and practice guides, memorizing the special subset of AAA rules for NY SUM cases (of course not billing the client for my learning curve), my brief's been with the arbitrator and the carrier since October...never got a responsive brief or a single proposed exhibit from the carrier's counsel (who has been the one rescheduling for months), and I get an email 2 days before, letting me know that "outside counsel from Syracuse will be covering." So then, I'm thinking all sorts of nightmarish stuff..."why are they doing this, did I miss something, is there some massively obvious point I've misconstrued, do I look like the relative NY newcomer that I am, am I about to get ambushed by the big boys in Syracuse?"
So we get to the arb. Some youngish dude shows up, gives me his card, and the arbitrator starts out, citing stuff from my brief, and noting that he has nothing from the other side. No submissions, no exhibits. (Goodie! I can get them all excluded!) So the arbitrator asks if he has any objections to my submissions. "Oh, was there a brief? I haven't looked at the file, I was just told to make no offers until we get your award." Did the carrier want to offer anything in opposition? No. Just to be sure, we recessed for 20 minutes so Mr. Syracuse could review my stuff, and he came back with no rebuttal. I gave my spiel for about 5 minutes, had my client testify about the accident, the arbitrator looked over my client's facial scarring, took notes, asked for an additional medical report, and that was it.
This Syracuse guy is making well into the six figures, didn't do anything at all to prepare, did not follow any of the arb rules...and there are no consequences. It wasn't even a matter of intimidation, I think they just couldn't get another extension so hired the case out for the day. In the meantime, I was losing sleep (3 different dates, no less) only to learn that I have an air-tight claim and no one gives a damn after 4 years. So why did they drag it out, pay this doofus a days' time, and not even counter our settlement demand? It's only a $25,000 policy, nothing at issue but unpaid medicals and scar revision surgery...what CRAP!
I better get my filing fees back, at least...
My experience with the "law" is very limited--and I hope I never need a lawyer--if I do I'm calling you for advice! My last jury trial, I sat on for one month straight-- was a Federal trial--I had to drive to Salt Lake 40 miles daily. I always had the idea that lawyers were very smart and good at arguments--but the trial included five guys and five lawyers--sheesh some of them were, well can I say this--not too bright--I was surprised and thought I could have done a better job defending the defendants--and I only learned what "no contest" meant recently--yeah, I know pretty dumb, but I know even less about golf.
Kit,
Hear ye, hear ye! Yesterday I got ambushed on an ex parte case when "co-counsel" was brought in and it turned out to be a Very Big Name from L.A. And you know what? Both of us lost and both of us won a little and I was not all too impressed by the Very Big name - in fact, at one point, I just said to her, "I don't like you. You're condescending." She seemed shocked that anyone would say that to her face. 'Cause she's a Very Big Name. As my late father would say, "That and a buck-and-a-quarter gets you on the subway!"
Tara has a point - don't assume expensive suit = good lawyer.
Damn, Digi, that's a brass set you have there!
Karen
You GO, sista!!! I nearly got beaten up by a 'roid ragey opposing counsel who, in a CD depo, made a particularly long and pointless speaking objection, as he had been in a long week of expert depos. When he was done, I just sat there for a second and asked "OK. So, are you over you yet?" He jumped up and launched over the table. My poor mold expert guy went between us for the block. After that, we got a discovery referee.
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