No, you don't need an attorney

Do I need an attorney?

The short answer is “No”. You can buy an online estate-planning package or download infinite contracts and legal documents via Rocket Lawyer. You even have the right to represent yourself in court. However, you get what you pay for. If you’ve done any of the above, I’m not picking on you. But when the “crap hits the fan” (which unfortunately it tends to do once in a while), you need legal advice from a person with a law license.

Lots of times people feel like they can handle legal issues themselves. They really don’t want to part with the whole pie, not realizing that by not giving up a “reasonable” percentage in the form of an attorney fee, they risk losing all of it. It doesn’t help that we lawyers don’t exactly have the greatest reputation for being honest, which makes the process of finding the right attorney even more frustrating.

So how do I find the right attorney?

Glad you asked. Your body included a keen sense of direction called “going with your gut”. If you don’t feel comfortable with the attorney after meeting with them, don’t move forward. Almost NEVER hire a lawyer over the phone (save exigent circumstances where meeting face-to-face is impossible). I have had this come up only once where a man moved to Michigan but was involved in an accident in Tennessee. He only had one week to file his lawsuit and we had to act fast. Only after a two-hour phone conversation (and all of his questions were answered) did he decide to hire our firm.

Unfortunately, there are MANY empty promises made by attorneys during an initial consultation. In this meeting, the attorney is playing 50% doctor, 50% salesman. But use this meeting to interview the attorney:

 Ask him/her how long they’ve been practicing

Ask how many cases like yours that he/she has handled

Ask what the potential difficulties in your case are (hint: there are always

difficulties and if you are told otherwise, RUN!)

A reputable attorney will not guarantee a certain outcome. A reputable attorney will not guarantee you a certain amount of money. A reputable attorney will not use legalese and verbose words to puff up their image, but will explain in layman’s terms what the process is for your case. If you can leave the meeting with a clear sense of understanding of how the attorney plans to best represent you, you’ve found a good one. 

Just please don’t cheap out and go at it all by your lonesome. I speak with far too many people who have killed their case/claim/issue through self-inflicted wounds by holding out on hiring an attorney.

Don't Hide Your Weak Cards

An attorney who works in our office is fond of saying that he uses his psychology degree more than his law degree. The implication being that he spends more time trying to speak reason and sense into people.

More recently I have been dealing with difficult cases which sometime naturally bring difficult clients. The temptation is to avoid the difficult, glaring issues and focus only on the strengths. It’s certainly easier.

But does it pay off?

Probably not. Because eventually those weaknesses will confront you head on.

It’s like a friend or acquaintance on social media. You see the perfectly edited or cropped photos of someone for months or years, then finally meet them in public and they look nothing alike. Your first instinct is to think that they’re a fraud. The gig is up.

That is exactly how it plays out in my job and every other profession. You can show your best cards and hold your bad ones, but eventually they are exposed. There is an art of displaying the weak cards and using them to emphasize your strong ones. Learning that art, regardless of where you work, will be your greatest asset.

Thwarted Expectations

She was trying her best not to cry. But it was obvious to my boss, myself and the mediator that she was on the inside. It was the culmination of two years of expecting a better result in her case violently crashing to earth. She would impress a jury, had legitimate injuries, but her case wasn't the strongest.

After hours of the mediator gently rubbing off the gold-coating of her case, only the mediocre metal of truth remained. Her case simply wasn't worth what she had believed it was for so long. But what happened next was admirable. She sucked it up, put on a straight face and was able to make a sound decision and put aside emotion.

And yet how often we all build our expectations, sometimes extremely lofty ones for good reason. Hoping for the best. We naturally feel disappointed when the end result looks nothing like what we though it would. 

I'm in the same situation as my client. I thought something would happen by now. It hasn't. I set a timetable in my mind and was forced to throw it out the window. It's frustrating. There's a smart quote about patience to be inserted here.

Flexibility is an attribute I haven't quite fully developed yet. Perhaps like my client I need to suck it up, remove emotion and just move forward. 

Education

When I first began screening cases for my firm the (seemingly) hardest part was telling people “No”. I beat around the bush, hemming and hawing my way to my conclusion. I stumbled through my explanation as to why I was rejecting their case. I was so worried about disappointing them that I missed the opportunity to educate as I felt like I was walking on eggshells.

Truthfully, too many attorneys say “No, I can't help you” and hang up. That’s how we earn our (well-deserved) reputations for being arrogant jerks that care only about money.

There’s something liberating and refreshing about anyone regardless of their profession who is willing to say “No, but let me tell you why…”. It takes extra time but the end result is worth it. 

I have found that placing a person in their opponent’s shoes sheds a lot of light to them and to myself. When someone is confronted with the weakness(es) of their case, it shows you how they will react in a deposition or in court when being grilled by the opposing attorney.

Which leads me to my main point:

I have had people argue to the end degree with me even when confronted with gaping holes in their case. They just don’t get it. If I can’t convince them early on that their case isn’t perfect, how hard will it be when I’m sitting down with them in mediation trying to settle their case or in court explaining why I can’t get them the amount of money they want?

Rewinding back: As much as someone is interviewing me as an attorney analyzing their case, I am analyzing their ability as a client to present themself. Too many times you can focus on the strength of the claim rather than the strength of the person. Both are vital. I have seen strong claims become harshly de-valued because of a client’s insistence to “see justice done” regardless of the cost. By taking time to explain to a client the weaknesses in their case early on, you educate the potential client while educating yourself on the type of client they will be. 

Waiting (and waiting) for April 12

This is my last post about the bar exam. Mainly because I was simply waiting for the results to be published for six weeks, so there's not really much I can say I did other than work and wonder if I did well enough to pass. Here's a breakdown of the passing weeks:

Week One
Over the past week, I've been tempted to look back at my law school and bar exam notes to see if I fully/correctly answered everything I was asked. I've been able to resist this. I believe it would do more damage to me mentally to assess what I didn't do. A wise bar-exam instructor advised against doing so, referring to doing so as "post-mortum-ing" the bar.

It took a few days for me to calm down, but I'm finally at peace with not having anything to do. Sometimes this is difficult for people to understand, but law students have been going 100MPH for 3-4 years and suddenly there's nothing to do but wait around. It's strange to adjust back to a normal life.

Week Two
By now I have answered inquiries from friends and family concerning the bar a hundred times over. How do you think you did?-Usually this is followed up with the courtesy "I know you did fine"
When do you find out results?-April 12, don't worry I have this date circled in red.
When can you handle _____ for me?-Um, not interested. Just kidding. Partially.

Week Four
Taking the bar exam now seems a thing of many moons past. I've officially stopped analyzing my essay responses in my mind, a much-welcome calm.

Late last week I was contacted by the attorney who will conduct my face-to-face character and fitness interview. There are several existing theories surrounding this interview and whether or not you've passed the bar. Some people claim getting an interview means you have at least passed the multiple choice portion of the bar. It's a slim sliver of hope for some. However, until I see my name on the successful list on April 12, I won't hold my breath on such theories.

We're sixteen days away from bar results being released. Or 384 hours. Or 24,040 minutes. Not that I'm counting...

April 12
In one of the most cruel and unusual forms of punishment, the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners posted a simple message on their website that results would be posted "By 2pm on April 12". Since we're practically lawyers, the word "by" is open to infinite interpretation. What it resulted in was 400+ people hitting refresh at every waking opportunity starting at 12:00 a.m. on April 12. I was no exception. I woke up in a fit of anxiety at 3am that morning, checking on my phone. No results yet.

9am. 10am. 11am. 12pm. No results yet. Fortunately it was a busy day in the office but the fact that I would know whether I passed was like a clanging gong all morning. Finally at 12:30 I had enough. We had some documents that needed to be filed in court so I gladly volunteered. I left my cell phone at the office so I could'nt be bothered. After going to court I took a prolonged stroll around downtown Nashville.

Right before 1pm my wife called and told me not to check the results until I had her on the phone. We endured 4 years of law school and 2 months of bar review together (she graciously taking care of our daughter, allowing me to get this far), so we would endure the results together.

A friend notified me at 1pm that results had been posted. I called my wife. I was shaking as I pulled up the webpage and scrolled down to the W's. Click HERE  here to see the results.

I HAD PASSED! Needless to say working the rest of the day was out of the question. My boss and I celebrated, everyone in our law office offered congratulations.

My parents, Heather's parents and I went out to dinner that evening. My mentor and close friend Tim generously offered to take me out to celebrate after dinner.

The reality set in the next day. I was finally done. There were no more tests, books, or cases to brief (at least in the earning a degree or license sense). The following weekend was a huge relief filled with encouraging and loving support from friends and family.

Day 2: Rock Bottom (Part 2)

The second day of the bar exam is 200 mutiple choice questions (called "Multistate"), broken into 100 in the morning and 100 in the afternoon. I felt good about the morning session. I was consistently eliminating wrong answers quickly, arriving at what I felt was the correct answer.

I spent lunch time with some close law school friends. We tried to keep the conversation light, and avoided discussing bar-related matters.

I refueled with Red Bull, ready to tackle the final afternoon session. I was rocking along for the first hour of the afternoon when my body, drained completely from a lack of sleep, hit rock bottom.

I could barely concentrate. It now seemed that it was taking me twice as long to answer questions. Minutes seemed like hours. I still had two hours to go to finish the afternoon session. This was not good. Red lights and sirens were blaring "EMERGENCY!"

I put my head down, resisted the temptation to start freaking out, and simply pushed along. It was the longest hour of my life, but I eventually crawled out of my hour-long slump. The last hour wasn't easy by any stretch, but I had pushed through a huge mental/physical wall.

I managed to complete all 200 questions with 2-3 minutes left. I've heard horror stories from past bar takers of having 20-30 questions left unanswered when time is up.

I put my pencil down, hoping my hour-long lapse wouldn't hurt my score too much. At this point, I had done everything in my power to ensure a passing grade.

Day 2: Pawn Stars (Part 1)

I left Day 1, essay day, of the bar exam feeling good. Since there are over twenty possible subjects to be tested and only nine essays, it's like spinning the wheel on a game show, only that your "prize" is a 30 minute recitation of law.

Since I only got 3 hours of sleep that night, I would sleep like a baby, right?

I went to sleep at 10 p.m. 

I woke up at 4am. I'm amped and ready for Day 2 of the bar. WHY? Why can I not get a decent night sleep? Body, don't you know that we have another mental grind today? Ugh.

I turn the TV on in the living room to keep me occupied. Nothing but informericals.

I begin to watch several episodes of Pawn Stars on demand. It's my favorite way to pass time.

7:30 a.m. I throw on some jeans and a t-shirt again.

7:45 a.m. I'm back at the gas station again. Starbucks iced coffee and more Red Bull. That combo seemed to work yesterday, why mess with good luck?

8:15 a.m. I'm at the hotel ready for Day 2. But now I'm not amped. I'm exhausted from only getting nine hours of sleep over the past two days. Not good.