We’re not supposed to say this or write this, but it’s true: as lawyers, we need to protect ourselves from challenging and, at the worst, deceitful or self-motivated clients. Problems with such clients do not happen that often. However, they still happen, and in an industry where the rules apply against us, we must be careful.
Being a lawyer is special. We’re lucky to be lawyers. That—along with “get over it and do your job”—is the most common theme of this column. The luckiest amongst us are blessed to have the chance to do very challenging, interesting, meaningful, and at times crazy work, work that actually engages the world and actually makes a difference for people. It’s special and we’re lucky.
But the work is fraught with risk and we must be careful. When you only get to do what you do because you take a special test, and you get a reverence from society (whatever silly TV shows there are and whatever jokes are made), and you’re in an industry where the rule is, in short, the client is always right, be careful. As one of the senior lawyers of our firm who has nearly a half century of litigation experience put it very simply to me recently, “Protect yourself. Period.”
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What does this mean? Worry about someone screwing you at every turn? Think every client is a liar out to cheat you? No. Thankfully, most clients are willing to pay those triple-digit-per-hour rates for our time because they value our work and know we are there to counsel them and fight for them. Most of the time, clients value what we do.
However, some clients don’t. Some clients, who have gotten into a bad situation, and thus need a litigator to begin with, are all too ready to throw their own lawyer under the proverbial bus. A criminal defense lawyer once told me, “Remember that any perp you’re representing had a bunch of people—grand jury, prosecutors, somebody — say they’re a lying scumbag. Don’t be a dope. Don’t you trust them.” I don’t think it’s that clear with all litigants, especially in the non-criminal context. But there is something universal in the truth of that advice: be careful.
We need to keep in mind that if we’re litigators our clients are in some kind of mess, for some reason. It may not be their fault at all. We represent class action plaintiffs, RICO plaintiffs, and false claims whistleblowers where it’s very hard to say that the client we represent did anything wrong. But many people in disputes, at some point, in some way, made some choice that contributed to their being where they are: in a dispute. Be aware of this. Such litigant may take his or her frustrations on you. He or she may understand, on some level, his or her own errors, but after paying you a ton of money he or she may want to take out frustrations on you.
What do you do? First and foremost, be aware that this is the reality out there. It took me a while to understand this. I may be from Brooklyn (and purportedly streetwise), and the first in my family to graduate high school (again, streetwise) and a former prosecutor, but when I started my private practice a decade ago, I was frighteningly naive when it came to understanding how clients can take out their frustrations on their lawyers. Many times early in my career I believed clients when I should not have. Many times my colleagues and I were not treated right and taken advantage of. Simply knowing that there are these risks can protect a lawyer.
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Second, discuss your concerns with colleagues. If you think there’s cause for concern, there probably is. Discuss the issue with someone you trust. Such a person—like that senior lawyer I mentioned above—will help you work through the issue. We are lawyers: thinking about or solving complicated problems is fun for us, but in this context, it’s also an act of self-protection.
Third, document like a nut. If a client’s conduct concerns you, be sure to email them and your colleagues about your concern. Simply writing things down often helps you figure out the issue. But, at the worst, your creation of a record protects you if things really do go south.
This is a great job. We should be thankful for our duty of loyalty to our clients. But some clients will take advantage of us. Be careful and protect yourself.
John Balestriere is an entrepreneurial trial lawyer who founded his firm after working as a prosecutor and litigator at a small firm. He is a partner at trial and investigations law firm Balestriere Fariello in New York, where he and his colleagues represent domestic and international clients in litigation, arbitration, appeals, and investigations. You can reach him by email at [email protected].