I frequently receive calls from potential clients complaining about other attorneys who represent them, have represented them, or have called to represent them. Below are some of my favorite calling topics and my responses.

Comment: “I have called or emailed many attorneys and no one other than you has returned my calls or emails.”

Answer: An attorney does not want to speak to someone who seeks free advice and calls 15-20 attorneys or more in the process. A brief consultation is fine, but some callers want to spend a great deal of time discussing their situation. Attorneys generally only need specific information to determine if callers have a viable case, so respect their time and the questions you ask. A general email is even worse, because it is unclear how many attorneys have been contacted via email. Many emails have been sent to me through websites targeting attorneys under different names. The researcher didn’t even take the time to change the name. Why would a lawyer even respond to an email like this? There are also many fraudulent emails that attorneys receive from all over the world, and it is difficult to know which ones are legitimate.

Many researchers do not seem to realize that “the time and advice of a lawyer are their value in the trade,” a saying often attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Let’s do the math. If an attorney receives 20 calls a day from prospective clients and spends an average of 15 minutes on each call, he has spent 5 hours on the phone and has not earned a penny if all callers seek free advice. They have businesses to run and expenses to cover. These same callers wouldn’t dream of taking up another professional’s time for free.

Comment: “My attorney did nothing or did not say anything in court.”

Answer: Although this may be the case, in my many years of experience I find this to be rare. Lawyers often do much of their work behind the scenes and do not communicate everything they do to their clients as this would be even more time consuming, especially for clients who pay by the hour and would not appreciate being charged for this. Service. Clients need to trust that their attorneys are taking the time to help them, and in contingency fee cases, attorneys are not paid if they don’t settle or win a case, so why wouldn’t they work to ensure success? Lawyers cannot guarantee the results of any case, either.

Lawyers who appear in court have to measure what they say. They do not usually want to raise numerous objections that could offend the judge and delay the process; they can determine from the mood of the judge or the nature of the case that it would be better to say less; and they can decide to play the good layer and let the opposing lawyer rant and rave to the detriment of his client. Clients do not always understand these nuances and think that the ranting and delusional attorney is the best attorney. You will probably get this impression from television, but an actual courtroom experience is very different from a televised courtroom experience.

Comment: “Many other attorneys have told me what you said, but I don’t believe it and I want to risk it so I can convince the judge of my case on my own.”

Answer: I often tell clients, would they have brain surgery, and if not, why do you think they know more about the law and court procedures than a lawyer? Do not confuse your ability to present a case in court as a pro se litigator with the assurance that you can represent yourself successfully. The law and the rules surrounding it are extremely complex and vary from court to court and county to county. Of course, there are some people who represent themselves successfully, but this is a very rare result in a complex case in a court other than a first level court.

Comment: “It is not fair, where is the justice?”

Answer: Life in general is not fair and justice depends on many things. A nut soup lawsuit on certain matters costs a minimum of $ 75,000 to $ 100,000 and more for an attorney’s time, plus thousands of dollars in court. If you can pay a lawyer that amount, that’s great. If one can find a firm that will take the case on the basis of a contingency fee (usually in serious injury or death cases), that’s great, but for the vast majority of others, their path to fairness and justice. in the legal system it will be very serious. limited by what they can afford to spend.

Comment: “I spent all my money (list the amount, but it is usually several thousand dollars) on a lawyer and now I have no money left, so can you take my case on a contingency fee basis?”

Answer: I love these calls and I wonder, why wasn’t I the one who had to pay thousands of dollars? It is not the responsibility of an attorney to pick up a case free of charge after another attorney or attorneys have worked on a case and received your payment. Often times, the cases in question are those in which an attorney cannot make money (although callers claim that the attorney will make millions from free publicity), such as custody or support cases, or that are well advanced in the legal process. , or so many mistakes have already been made, it’s a basket case.

My final comment is that you respect an attorney’s time and advice as it is your business value and should not be wasted.