What do you pay a lawyer for?
Ina recent post I mentioned the issues I've had over the last several months. One of those involved my wife, who has been battling cancer for the last eight years. Several weeks ago we went to her doctor, and He told us what we knew would probably happen eventually - there was nothing else they could do, and it was time to check out hospice. It was not something we had expected, and there are no words to describe the feelings and emotions you experience. While its easy to blame the messenger in a situation like this, you could tell he was almost as upset as we were.
Over the last few weeks I've had well meaning people offer all types of advice. Are you getting another opinion, have you tried this or that? (the answer is yes I have heard about asparagus, fulvic acid, and all the other alternative cures) And I'm not checking out any of them; not because I don't want a cure, but because I trust our doctor. I have no doubt that if there was something out there that would help he would give it a try.
All of this started me thinking about how this relates to what we do as lawyers. When we first started out years ago I was expecting treatment and a cure. If that is what we paid for, we clearly didn't get our money's worth. I'm sure client's have the same thoughts. They come to us with different expectations; some may want to get off, while some may simply hope to avoid jail. In the post-conviction arena they want their conviction reversed. Many times lawyers just can't deliver on those expectations. Let's face it; if there's a video, several eyewitnesses, and DNA evidence, you aren't going to get off.
There's no doubt that lawyers - and doctors - have an obligation to manage expectations. It starts with learning what they are - if you don't know what the client/patient expects, you can't manage it. But that is little simplistic; some people don't know what they want, while some may start off wanting one thing, but end up wanting something else.
So if you don't pay for results, what do you pay for? I would like to believe you pay for their expertise, knowledge and experience, and expect them to put that to use for you. In other words, you expect them to do the best they can do. Hopefully that ends with a result you are happy with - but not always. If not, you know you have done everything you could do.
I don't know why clients have such a hard time accepting this. In the sports world, it is accepted that you don't achieve expectations all the time. If you think about baseball, someone who can hit the ball roughly 1/3 of the time is going to make millions; no one expects them to get a hit every time they go to bat. The same goes for quarterbacks, running backs, or any or position. We accept mistakes will be made, and sometimes they may look no better than a rookie. In the end though, we believe their best is going to be better than someone else's best.
I think we paid our doctors to do the best they could do, which I believe they did. I don't feel like we wasted money, but that it was money well spent (and yes I know we only paid a portion of the total costs - but who could afford a 20,000 chemo treatment without insurance) I only wish more clients accepted this. The fact that they don't is often times the lawyer's fault. We may be doing great work, but how does the client know that? They only know it we educate them. Even then, there are going to be doubts without one important ingredient; they must know we really care. That is something you cannot fake; if you don't really care no amount of persuasion in the world can convince themselves otherwise.
In the end you have to care about your clients, and make sure they know you care. Of course practicing law this way is harder; if you have a lot invested in your clients you are going to feel their pain. If you can do this you are going to do everything you can, and the client will know you have given your best. That's all anyone can expect.
