Wasting My Time

Lawyers' clients seem to have a disconnect between wanting advice and realizing they have to pay for the lawyer's time.

When you hire a plumber, he comes to your house and you pay by the hour. Last time I had one, I paid over $75 per hour to a fellow who had a high school education, and, when he fixed my leaking toilet, was happy to pay every dollar.

Earlier this week, I took some clients to my friend and neighbor's office, to refer their case. My friend spent a good 3 hours explaining the intricacies of the case to them, and then called to tell me the clients were going to "think about it."

Today, my partner went to see a gentleman in Hollywood, who was badly injured in a car wreck. He spent 2 hours explaining things to the man and his wife, only to have the wife say "Wow --you've really taught us a great deal, and you're impressive, but my son from California forbis us from hiring a lawyer. He has a connection to one, and we'll probably go in that direction."

Lord forbid these jerks told my partner that before he gave up 1/2 of a day to meet with them. Years ago, when I asked a law school classmate about his clients, he said "Dave --clients in this filed are the moral equivalent of cockroaches. I do a good job for them, but never go out of my way." I guess he had LOTS of experiences like this.

In other news in the jerk category, I got an announcement in the mail yesterday from an attorney in PEmbroke Pines who I'll call Susan D, because that's her name. She was asking me to refer her cases. The problem is,years ago she cheated me out of a co counsel fee. Talk about chutzpah! I sent her a sarcastic email, telling her she's a piece of offal.

Not a very inspiring week here in attorney town...