A lawyer owes every client the duty of providing competent representation and the duty of acting with reasonable dilligence. This duty exists even if the "client" has not paid the lawyer or even if the "client" has not signed a written agreement with the lawyer. If a "client" claims that a lawyer did something which was unethical, it doesn't matter if the "client" didn't pay the lawyer anything. What matters is whether or not a client/attorney relationship was formed. It is therefore extremely important to be able to sniff out moochers and tell them to go fuck themselves and/or ignore them completely.
In my opinion, the only people who may be worthwhile for me are people who have criminal charges pending, people who actually suffered injuries in automobile accidents, and people who are going through a divorce and/or custody battle. Everyone else is automatically a moocher as far as I am concerned. I realize that many people need wills drawn and need immigration help, but I wouldn't touch wills with a ten-foot pole. That area of the law breeds "friends" and/or family members who are exercising undue influence over persons who are not mentally competent. For the vast majority of people who seek immigration assistance, nothing can be done because of the way the law is.
People who approach me in public and claim to need a lawyer are never worthwhile. If a person has the means to hire a lawyer, do you think that person would go to court without a lawyer and approach strangers to ask them questions? The answer is no. If a person has the means to hire a lawyer, would he appoach some guy sitting in a bar who is looking at an Athens, Greece Data Sheet on his cell phone and start asking him for advice? Never. People who need lawyers find them through friends, family members, mailed solicitations, the internet, and television and radio advertising. No exceptions. Everyone else is automatically a moocher and should be avoided.
My radar is pretty good as far as being able to detect moochers who call me. Every person who calls me and immediately after I answer the phone asks me how much I charge is a waste of time and I usually hang up when they ask me that. People who do not mention money at all during the initial phone call are usually worthwhile and very seldom flake. People who call me and don't initially mention money, but ask me about my fees later in the conversation, are usually moochers and very often flake. People who talk extremely slow during that initial telephone conversation are often moochers and flakes and usually do not show up if I tell them to come in.
I don't charge consult fees. People with personal injury cases or criminal cases need lawyers and it is very important that I get them into my office as soon as I can. I would scare many of them away with the consult fee and they would end up somewhere else within an hour. Family law clients are another story. Many of them are still living in the same house as their wife or husband and are merely thinking about getting divorced. Many of those people never separate from their spouses and merely spend years trying to waste lawyers' time. These types often call and ask me whether or not I charge a consult fee and I generally scare them away by telling them that I do.
I don't make appointments with people. By telling a potential client that I will be meeting with him or her in a week, I would merely be giving him or her the opportunity to find someone else before making it to my office. The flaking epidemic which has occurred with the advent of smart phones and facebook also applies in a business context. If I don't get people in immediately after they make that initial phone call, there is a good chance that they will flake. Many lawyers and other professionals still haven't learned that.
Quote: (10-25-2012 05:27 PM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:
Moocher, "Say man, you a lawyer right? yeah man, I was over @ the grocery store and I saw a roach in the potato salad. You think I gotta case?"
This made me laugh. The variation I got was some guy who told me, "I opened up a can of Orange Crush and it had a fingernail in it. Do you think I have a case"? This was a few years ago. Maybe the guy who asked me that put a gun to his head by now and did us all a favor.
