One morning, a potential client calls me pleading for help. He says that he has to reply to something called a summary judgment motion. I asked who his attorney was and he said that he was representing himself.
He wanted me to review the reply that he drafted. I told him to email me a copy of the motion and his reply and I’ll respond with my consultation fee. He then sounded shocked, as if I was asking for his kidneys.
“How much is it going to cost?” (A red flag.)
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I told him that I can’t give a fee estimate without knowing what the case was about and where it is currently with the court. This way I won’t overcharge him by spending unnecessary time on research.
His reply was handwritten and made very little sense. His use of emojis made it worse. I assume that opposing counsel and the judge are not too happy with him, and his case is probably damaged beyond repair. But I had hope that I can help him in a small way. So I told him that I would like to review his file, discuss his options, and possibly contact opposing counsel to see if a resolution was still possible at this stage of litigation. And then I told him my fee for the work. It was a few hundred dollars.
“But that’s too expensive! Let me talk to my wife about it and get back to you.”
I never heard from him again.
There are times when people have good reasons for lawyering up late. But after reading this person’s work product and listening to his attitude, I can bet that he thought he could save money by representing himself in court. Just to be safe, he probably called multiple attorneys in the area, mooching as much free advice as he could.
These people are so hung up on saving money that they will listen to just about anyone, not knowing whether the advice they receive will help or hurt them. They may even cooperate with opposing counsel who promises to end the case as quickly as possible in a manner that is fair for everyone. A rare few genuinely mean it, so long as it doesn’t hurt their client. But opposing counsel will play these people for fools, exploiting their ignorance to extract damaging information and to prevent them from properly presenting their case.
These people also beg the judge for mercy, playing the indigent card and hoping that he will ignore the rules and give them a break. The judges, being human, give them leeway, a lot of times more than they deserve. But like most human beings, judges will lose their patience.
It’s only when these people are faced with the immediate threat of sanctions or a final decision against them that they become serious about talking to an attorney. You would think that they learned their lesson at this point. Some do, but others will continue to go through great yet comical lengths in an effort to save money.
These people tend to give hyperbolic sob stories to gain sympathy and a discount. Also, they are not going to tell you the mistakes they made because either they don’t know they made a mistake or they are afraid you will charge them extra to fix it. And they are going to insist on a cap on legal fees.
The easy answer to dealing with people like this is to not deal with them in the first place. These people are almost guaranteed to be difficult to work with. And most of the time, their cases have been screwed up to the point where there is nothing you can do. Things might be different if the potential client realizes that he made a mistake and is willing to cooperate and pay for your services.
The harder answer is that we may need to do a better job convincing the public not to represent themselves in court or similar adversarial legal proceedings. But those who want to be cheap will only learn the hard way – by getting burned and paying for it.
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.