Aug/090
Just the facts
In litigation, it is so tempting to cast aspersions on opposing counsel, particularly in those dangerous cases where you identify strongly with your client and truly believe the other side to be completely and absolutely wrong. I think every attorney learns this lesson the hard way: just because you don't like what the other side is saying, it doesn't mean there isn't merit there. Whenever you interact in front of a decision maker, make sure your biases don't show (at least not too much).
Here's an example of what not to do: I just participated in a telephonic hearing for federal district court where opposing counsel let his biases show. He said we "believed" something was or would be occurring, and was, in essence, trying to infer that we were hallucinating or otherwise delusional in thinking so.
This never makes an attorney look good. What happened? The same thing that always happens. Our side said, "I not only believe it to be true, I know it to be true, and here is why...." and the person who made the snide comment in the first place ended up looking petty and ill-informed. Our side had a clear shot at making our point not only on the merits, but letting opposing counsel look like an ass.
Aug/090
Did it keep Access Group off his back?
A Tacoma lawyer was arrested for dealing pot out of his law office. I have to say that my first reaction when I read this story was to wonder if he needed the money for his student loans.
Aug/090
Too important for the likes of me
There are attorneys who are too important to talk to me.
Actually, I suspect they're too important to talk to other people, too, but I'm not sure. They've let me know in no uncertain terms that they simply can't be bothered with me. Get an email from me? Great. They'll take the time to respond -- to let me know I really should be talking to their legal assistant or paralegal, instead of just answering the damn question themselves or looking at their own calendar.
Most of the offenders are middle-aged women, too....so much for sisterhood.
Anyway, I'm not sure what this is supposed to achieve. I think I am supposed to be impressed at how busy and important they are. Maybe I'm supposed to feel ashamed that I answer the office line whenever my legal assistants are in the bathroom or at lunch? Dare I admit - I actually clean my own desk?! What do these attorneys tell the judge when asked about an upcoming date? "Sorry, judge, but you'll have to run it past my assistant first"? Really, now.
What I know is this: that type of self-importance comes across as lazy and supercilious. Staff doesn't appreciate it. I don't appreciate it. It makes me that much less likely to be helpful or extend courtesies on my end when the time comes around (and the time always comes around on a long case).
Today's tip: if you're ever tempted to refer another attorney to your assistant, don't. Tell the attorney your assistant has the information you need, and that you'll get back to them.
Aug/090
Vacation professionalism tip
Our office took the last week off. We had one paralegal coming in every day, long enough to get mail and check voicemail, and route emergencies in the appropriate directions, but all in all, we were gone. We'd warned our clients and opposing counsel, and ensured there was absolutely nothing critical on the office calendar.
Contrast this with a lawyer who shares space with us. He learned from our paralegal that the rest of us were gone on Monday (apparently, no one bothered to tell him!) and said, "That sounds like a good idea." And....he left, without warning to clients, opposing counsel, or anyone else. For a week. First thing this morning, while we were in (and he hadn't yet made it in) the office, guess whose phone was ringing off the hook because his voicemail had filled up the previous week?
Yeah. If you're a small practitioner and you take a week off? Probably better to let people know beforehand.
Aug/090
Courtroom style
A friend, a longtime court employee, was recently sued. This is a woman who knows the entire legal community in her county, good and bad, and who has pretty much seen it all. One of the things that impressed her about her attorney? The fact he would wait in line with them to go through security (the lawyer and my friend had access passes and could bypass the line, but her husband couldn't). Instead of using his pass, he stood with them in the rain, too. His representation was otherwise great, but that little thing floored her.
What a little thing that is, but it meant a lot. Clients can be difficult, especially in criminal or domestic relations cases - often the sort of cases newbie attorneys handle. You learn sordid details about sordid lives, and you frequently see people at their worst. By the time you appear in court on their behalf, often the last thing you want to do is, well, spend extra time with them. It's easier to think about them as a set of legal problems to deal with than a scared, flawed (and sometimes stinky or annoying) human being.
And let's be honest: we all come to the practice of law with prejudices, likes, and dislikes (and maybe a very strong sense of smell - not an advantage most of the time). We have bad days or nights, and we may not always want to be there, representing clients who are difficult or who may not appreciate us or our time.
That's why I'm always so impressed when I see attorneys making the extra effort with their most difficult clients - really listening to what they're saying, making small talk or comparing pictures of kids or grandkids. (Especially with criminal or dom/rel clients.) Instead of sliding further away on the bench or looking at their Blackberries every minute or two, they sit close to their clients and really explain what the court's rulings mean. They make sure their clients understand all of the ramifications. No matter how grungy the client, the attorneys shake their hands or pat them on the back. (And I don't just mean in front of the jury!) They treat them as human beings.
It's a small thing, but often, the most important one.
Aug/090
Sometimes a wheelie bag is just a wheelie bag
Tip for old guy lawyers (OGLs): Sometimes the chick with the wheelie bag is a lawyer, not the court reporter. Don't assume.
Aug/090
Conferring with Counsel
Style is about a heck of a lot more than how you're dressed - it's how you act and how others perceive you. One thing that surprised me when I started practicing was that a lot of rules for good and courteous behavior are actually written down - not generally in statutes, but in trial court rules or administrative rules or other types of local rules.
I didn't learn about the Oregon Uniform Trial Court Rules when I was in law school - alas, I learned about them the way most other attorneys do, by being scolded by another attorney for not following one of those rules. The UTCRs are a set of rules separate from the rules of civil procedure, which set out guidelines for various actions - the filing of court documents (the literal formatting required), how to behave in the courtroom, and so on. If the statutes are the Bible, then the UTCRs are the catechism - the day-to-day theology of the law, if you like.
One of the best rules in the UTCR is 5.010, which requires that opposing counsel confer with each other before they file motions related to pleadings (like motions to dismiss) or discovery, to see if they can't work out their differences before filing the motion. In fact, the rule requires not only conference, but also certifying to the conference in the motion itself. If a good faith effort hasn't been made by the moving party, the court will deny the motion.
I'm a plaintiff's lawyer, so mostly I respond to motions. Today, though, I'm filing motions to strike and make more definite and certain in a defendant's answer, and I got to be the one to initiate the conference. Instead of the cookie-cutter "we're going to file this" sort of call, I took the time to talk my way through each of my motions with opposing counsel. While I don't expect this will change the result (they will tell me to file my motion), I know that defense counsel isn't going to be surprised when they receive the motion, either.
Aug/090
Men in hats
There is only one rule to remember about men and hats. (Not true, but this is the most important rule. Later rules will follow.)
It's OK to wear them outside, but it is never OK to wear them inside. If you're not sure if the place you're standing in qualifies as inside or outside (for example, the entry to the courthouse, a foyer, or so on), then take the hat OFF.
Jul/090
Don’t be the lawyer joke!
This site is for all of those ill-mannered cretins attorneys I meet on a daily (sometimes - gladly! - only weekly) basis - and for the rest of you, who hate them as much as I do. With any luck, reading these posts will keep you from becoming the lame lawyer jokes my father loves to tell me.