What On Earth Are You Doing Practicing Law?
By Hal Haralson, Attorney
Austin, Texas
We were in a Family Law Seminar discussing cases we were currently working on. I`m considered an "old-timer" in this group because of having handled family law cases for thirty years.
One of the attorneys who had been around almost that long turned to me and said, "Hal, I haven`t seen you in court lately. In fact, I rarely see you in court. How do you manage that?"
I responded. "I`ll share something with you that I discovered many years ago. Lawyers are very protective of their turf. They rarely go to another attorney`s office. They consider themselves in the position of strength when they are behind their desk and the other attorney is in the client`s seat."
"We like to communicate by letter. Our words present a superior and aggressive attitude on our client`s behalf. Of course, we send a copy of the letter to our clients. The other attorney responds in an equally combative tone and the matter escalates."
I continued. "We do this because we have been taught to `win` for our client. That means the other side `looses`. I`ll tell you how I`ve settled hundreds of cases and been in court (trial) only four times in thirty years."
I then told this story. "The client across from me was angry. At 55 years of age, his marriage of 35 years was breaking up. He was a religious man, going to the seminary at this stage in life."
"As I wrote down the details of his heated conflict, it was obvious this case could very easily wind up in court. The small town (pop. 10,000) where he lived was about 100 miles from Austin."
"I called his wife`s attorney the next day and told him I was representing Mr. Jones. `Do you have some time on Thursday or Friday? I would like to drive to Brady and visit with you about the case.`"
"We worked out a convenient time and I arrived at his office and he invited me to have a seat. As we made small talk, I looked at the pictures on the wall. There was a picture of twin girls about 13 years of age in basketball uniforms."
"I asked if these were his daughters. He told me about the girls and the championship team they played on. I told him that my wife and I had been involved in women`s basketball for many years at the University of Texas."
"Our conversation was non-threatening. We had a common interest. We knew each other. We settled our case."
"That," I told my fellow attorney at the seminar, "is how I stay out of court."
- Offer to meet the other attorney on his turf.
- Talk with the attorney about him or herself. Find out where his or her interests lie and get the attorney to talk about herself or himself.
- When you both have relaxed., talk about the case and agree that it is in everyone`s best interest to stay out of court.
Why:
- If you go to court you hand over the right of decision to a judge. In settlement, your client remains in control because he or she must agree or there is no settlement.
- It costs five times as much if the case goes to trial.
- A trial will completely destroy any relationship that continues to exist between the spouses. Settlement allows the best course for the children and for their parents to have mutual participation in the recovery of the children from the divorce.
It`s that simple. Defuse the adversarial relationship with the other attorney and make settlement your goal.
I`ve never understood why most attorneys I know enjoy the combat of court.
A young graduate student from the University of Texas called to ask me if I would take the Myers/Briggs personality inventory. She was doing her paper on personality types in the legal profession.
I told her I would be glad to do this if she would come by afterward and let me know her findings.
About six months later, she called and said she had finished her paper. I invited her to come to the office. She sat down and looked at me and asked, "What on earth are you doing practicing law?"
"What do you mean?" I replied.
"Your personality inventory shows you should be a priest or minister, but never a lawyer."
I laughed and told her the story she did not know about how I came to be an attorney. I had spent 10 years in the ministry before going to law school.
She was much closer to the truth than she realized.
This difference has given me a great advantage in dealing with my fellow attorneys over the years.
Most clients want settlement without combat. The attorney has to make that his or her goal if that is to happen.
