A strangely dressed woman walked into a lawyer’s office and said only that “my mother died and my sister is not giving me any money.” The doubtful secretary summoned the lawyer who proceeded to examine the file in the neighboring county, and sure enough found that the sister had in fact taken advantage of her odd sibling. He requested an accounting from the fiduciary’s lawyer and soon thereafter obtained a sizable settlement for his client.
In another instance, a young lawyer received a crash report and scattered medical records from a man who was unhappy with the work of his previous lawyer. Unknown to him at the time, just about every other personal injury lawyer had received the same package and they had all called previous counsel who essentially told them that the client was loony and difficult to deal with before summarily deciding to turn the client away. He was tempted to call himself but decided to have the man come in to review his case. As it turned out, the accident was straight forward with clear liability and serious injuries. He filed suit and after brief discovery, settled the case for a handsome fee.
These examples show that cases can be good even though the clients may be odd – be it in dress, speech or personality. Thanks but no thanks is often our natural reaction, and this is generally a prudent decision as the best client is sometimes the one we do not take.
Nonetheless, if there are no warnings coming from our gut – where we keep a wealth of latent wisdom- perhaps we should approach the seemingly odd client with a more open mind. After all, tolerance, understanding and a keener awareness of human frailty is what has traditionally distinguished our profession from others.
More often than not, however, we end up with odd clients from time to time and the question quickly becomes how to deal with them. What follows are some of the typical client personalities you will likely confront in practice, together with some suggestions on making the most of things during the representation.
The Dazed and Confused Client:
Just sued, fired, charged with a crime or in need of an urgent bankruptcy filing, this client knows little of ordinary matters and even less about the legal process. You give a thorough explanation of the law relative to the situation at hand along with options and consequences. And though you may have done a pretty good job at it, the explanation seems to have somehow gone in one ear and out the other. Distracted, hysterical, unsophisticated or just plain confused about the nature of our work – we are confronted by a curious gaze. To some extent, this confusion should be embraced by us inasmuch as our role as counsel is partly that of teacher and the misunderstanding may reflect a weakness in our presentation. Due attention should be put on written materials for the client, complete with easy to understand diagrams, photos and bullet points.
Of course, even the best explanations can prove fruitless and we must realize that some clients simply do not care to understand the underlying issues in their case. More difficult, however, is the client who chooses to ignore clear concepts because they lead to an outcome that is difficult for them to accept. Debtors in bankruptcy have difficulty “understanding” that property with equity beyond state law exemptions is subject to liquidation for the benefit of their creditors. Fathers in the midst of a divorce proceeding simply cannot understand why visitation is so limited despite their recurrent record of abuse in the household. And criminal defendants simply cannot grasp a prosecutor’s firm stance as to sentencing.
The Absent-Minded Client:
Good natured and overall decent people, these clients forget important details and documents requested, show up late to court hearings and depositions, and otherwise run afoul of tasks customarily expected of them. These clients require a lot of hand-holding and you can delegate much of it to your staff. A quick reminder phone call the day before – or even the hour before an appointment – can go a long way to get them to where they are supposed to be. Do not count on all your letters being read or forms being completed and returned. Get them into the office where staff can help them. For court appearances, be more direct than usual on how they are to dress and behave. This is also true of trial witnesses who sometimes need tremendous help getting cleaned up and appropriately dressed for their court appearances.
The Web-JD Client:
Unlike our dazed and confused clients, these folks are usually somewhat sophisticated and come armed with an online understanding of their case. Though this is somewhat helpful, it becomes overbearing to hear a dissertation from the lay perspective on what ought to be done in the case. Every aspect must be vetted and approved by this client before filing – including such trivial niceties as prayers in a complaint demanding damages in excess of $25,000.
The best course is to gather your patience and explain why things are being done as they are and why the alternative route suggested by a friend is not dispositive of the issue. If they continue to meddle and second guess you, it may be necessary to let them go, as this is a sign of more problems ahead or a loss of trust in your ability. When Abraham Lincoln found that his mule preferred a different route, he told him “if you are going to get on, I am going to get off.”
The Oil and Vinegar Client:
This one may not be odd and may in fact be perfect for someone else. Soon, however, you realize that his personality, outlook, philosophy or version of the facts cannot be reconciled with how you understand things to be. You may find yourself representing someone you find distasteful or even abhorrent. This was what a young lawyer was trying to avoid when he quoted an unusually high fee for an appeal. “He won’t be back at that price,” the lawyer thought. Three days later, the client paid the entire fee to his staff and quickly left before
the lawyer could intervene. The lawyer did the appeal and even reversed the lower court’s decision, but he declined representation for the new trial.
The Paranoid Client:
These clients have a deep distrust of others and usually question even your loyalty at some point during the representation. This was a problem even for an experienced criminal defense lawyer who had managed to negotiate a manslaughter plea with a relatively short sentence for a client who had killed a man during a wildcat union strike. After a discussion regarding sentencing, the defense lawyer and prosecutor left the judge’s chambers together laughing at a joke just told by the bailiff. Seeing this merriment, the client presumed he had just been sold down the river. He refused to plea, and instead hired a big name defense lawyer from out west. The jury found him guilty of murder and he got life.
You can hold nothing back from the paranoid client and whenever possible, you should have him or her present during negotiations. Be sure to mind appearances, too. This includes chatting in the hallways and getting chummy with opposing counsel in their presence. Just as jurors continue to evaluate you during recesses, your own clients are observing your loyalty as well. They may not always expect you to win for them, but they require that you remain fearlessly loyal and put up a good fight. So save the jokes for the evening, or finish them up in chambers where everyone can speak frankly without getting clobbered.
The Ungrateful Client:
This is perhaps the most difficult client to deal with because the ingratitude typically manifests itself in cases involving a great deal of personal sacrifice by the lawyer. Countless uncompensated hours on the file aside, these clients are quick to claim little effort by you when results are not immediate or readily apparent. Since your blood will quickly boil when they tell you this, it may be a good idea to send out a letter outlining what you have done, the costs you have advanced and the delay and unpredictable results typically associated with the legal system.
If you surmise that you might be dealing with an ungrateful client from the outset (e.g. he came from another lawyer and is telling you that he had done nothing for him), it is best not to take the case. If you do take it, be ready to deal with both the difficult case as well as the ungrateful client. Since ingratitude is difficult to accept when it comes unexpected, it is utter foolishness to sign up for it when you see it coming.
