For solos and small firms, most of our clients are regular folk and small businesses run by regular folk. This typically means that when they have a big problem, they may not have a lot of money to pay an attorney or none at all. Generally, a lawyer will not (and should not) take a prospective client’s case if he cannot pay the lawyer’s fee. But in rare cases, they may make an exception. How much leeway a lawyer will give sometimes depends on how much empathy he has for the client’s circumstances.
Empathy basically means to see the world from another’s perspective, usually someone in trouble. It requires us to understand their life circumstances and the difficulties they have to face. When we lawyers argue our case before opposing counsel, a judge, jury or government bureaucrat, we try to get them to empathize with our client. The end goal is to give the person a break by reducing their punishment or break the rules in their favor, conveniently forgetting why the rules were there in the first place.
Empathy is meant to be a good thing. It is supposed to make us kinder, better people. It’s one of those things that separates us from animals and barbarians. It reminds us that rules are not perfect and should be changed or ignored when the situation calls for it.
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A lot of times when potential clients try to negotiate down attorneys’ fees, they try to convince us to empathize with their situation. Solos and small firm lawyers tend to be better at empathizing with regular folk. This is because most have grown up in middle-class households and occasionally experienced hard times. So sometimes we can be a sucker for a good sob story. Having been in a similar situation ourselves, we can relate to a potential client’s financial difficulties and are willing to be very flexible with our fees.
But it won’t be long before a young lawyer working for herself learns that empathy and running a business are not always compatible. While most clients honor their payment obligations, it takes only one burn before a lawyer realizes that he has to be strict when it comes to payment. I’ve had clients file bankruptcy, disappear without a trace, argue with me over every billing item, and otherwise try to con their way out of paying my bill even though they have agreed to the generous payment terms on our attorney-client contract.
So the next time a potential client wants you to empathize with his unfortunate circumstances by giving him a substantial discount on your fees, I suggest keeping the following thoughts in mind.
First, remember who you are dealing with. I don’t know about you, but if a potential client tells me he is the defendant in a collections case or any kind of fraud, the next three words out of my mouth will be “cash up front” before I do anything else. The potential client might claim that the complaint is bogus or he is being bullied by a big corporation. While this may be true, I am not going to spend time and money on a client’s case only to get emotional excuses lasting 30 minutes as to why he can’t pay my bill.
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Second, our economy does not run on empathy. Our landlord and student loan servicers are not likely to show us much empathy if we can’t pay our bills. And we really shouldn’t expect them to. They are not going to care if we can’t pay the bills because we are trying to be nice to people. In fact, they may refer you to their collections department, who will give you a stern lecture about the need to be more assertive businesspeople.
Third, when you give a client a break because you are feeling empathetic, have you thought about your clients who pay in full, made sacrifices to do it, and did not complain? It sounds like you are not being empathetic to them, arguably the ones who deserve it the most.
As far as I’m concerned, empathy does not play a significant role in my practice. This is because I got into this business to make money and help people at the same time. So I have little empathy for those who cannot pay for my services. Also, I can sleep at night knowing that even if I turn away a client because they can’t pay, one way or another, they will eventually be okay.
While empathy is generally good, from a business standpoint, lawyers should be convincing others to be empathetic to their clients. That’s how we make money and how our clients save theirs. But when a potential client wants you to be empathetic when it comes to paying your fees, he may be a moocher, and you run the risk of being played like a chump.
Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at [email protected] and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.