You have a case. You have a significant case and you are looking for an attorney to represent. So you have a consultation and you have the opportunity to sit down and talk about the details of your situation. After about 30 minutes to an hour of answering questions by the attorney, the attorney then gives you an assessment of your situation. However, the one thing you notice is that the attorney is spending more time telling the negative points of your case. Say what? What is his/her problem? Don’t they know your case is serious? don’t they that you have been harmed? Don’t they realize that you have a winner? Why are they slamming your case?
Why? Because they have to be REAL!!! Here’s why they have to be real:
1) Most BAR organizations require it. Most Bar organizations require attorneys to NOT create any unrealistic expectations. As such, attorneys are ethically bound to tell you the bad things. It’s an unpleasant part of the process because alot of times, people have their own opinion about the value and the potential of success for their case. However, the attorneys have a duty to ensure that the attorney is not reassuring the client of an unexpectation that has a probability of not occurring.
2) It makes for bad business. The attorney has a duty to ensure that the client has a full appreciation of the good and the bad of the case. The attorney lives and dies on his or her reputation. As such, it’s important that the client is honest about the pros and cons of a case. If the attorney develops a reputation for constantly presenting a “We win EVERY case” attitude, the word will get out if he or she doesn’t win every case.
3) You need to know what you’re up against. Sometimes, the plain and simple truth, you need to have an appreciation of the significance of your case. You need to realize that for all of the great things that may be in your file, you may have some REALLY hard problems that you have to overcome. As such, it is important for you to understand the ‘big picture’. Attorneys are business people and despite how great you think your case may be, the attorneys must assess how many obstacles they must overcome and how much it’s going to cost in order to overcome those obstacles.
