Wa r ni ng : P r o l o ng e d L i t i g a t i o n Ca nB e Ha z a r dou st oy ou r F i na nc i a lWe l l b e i ng .

Learn how to protect yourself from:

your attorney your attorneys billing practices costly legal stall tactics and todays legal system.

INTRODUCTION

Youre about to hire an attorney. At least, you think you are. You have a legal problem and, although you perhaps dont know it, your financial security is in danger. The information Ive collected in these pages could save you a lot of money. Reading the advice in this guide will protect you from:

todays corrupt legal system; your attorneys billing system; and, legal stall tactics designed simply to increase your bill.

I can assure you, attorneys dont want you to know what youre about to discover here. In the past, Ive personally spent over $600,000 in attorney fees on:

divorces, bankruptcy, purchasing businesses, selling businesses, commercial construction, asset protection, numerous real estate transactions, bad debt collection, and a stack of frivolous personal and business lawsuits that had absolutely no legal standing and should never have been filed.

Over half of the $600,000 I spent on legal issues was wasted. My attorneys worked me for every dollar I had and used the corrupt legal system as their tool. My experience created the pages youre about to read; you could save a lot of money and heartache by knowing my story.

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CHAPTER ONE SCHEMING LAWYERS

So how do lawyers cheat and swindle us? As a client you can only suspect whats really going on. The only way to truly know the insider scheming of lawyers is to turn to lawyers themselves. In this tight-knit, corrupt profession, there have been a few turncoats. So what is it lawyers really do? How do they overcharge? In most major and medium-sized law firms, the code of practice is all about collection. Collect from your clients; bill them any which way you can. Overcharging is a skill, one which the most successful lawyers hone and perfect. How do lawyers scam their clients? Look up the personality type of your average lawyer. The law attracts certain types of people: intelligent, argumentative, competitive, and problem-solving people. They smell money like sharks smell blood and have a determination to get back some benefit from all the work theyve put in to being lawyers. In law school, you see an elite clich of academically bright, creative-types. The LSAT, the Law School Aptitude Test, is the second stage of selection. Although the test claims to identify those best suited to practice law, the test has changed dramatically during the last forty years. The test, which is responsible for the selection of our countrys lawyers, tests predominantly for verbal skills not mathematical skills, not problem-solving skills, and not logic. Once upon a time, law schools may also have advocated conflict avoidance. They may have instructed would-be lawyers to find the common ground between arguments, to mediate, to work out problems, and to avoid litigation. Today, most law students graduate with the belief that there is no absolute truth in any legal argument. No right or wrong, only winning and losing. It makes no different which side one takes, as long as one is paid for it.1 A considerable lack of integrity infects most lawyers-in-training. They also have a zeal to overwrite making the law and legal jargon appear more complicated and more important than it actually is.
1

Gray (1996) How Not To Get Screwed By Your Attorney.

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The first year of law school focuses on Legal Research and Writing (how to use words in pairs, such as null and void; cease and desist). Using two or three words where one will do is an excellent method of encryption. Lawyers encrypt the law with verboseness, disguised as an effort to be precise. According to James D. Gordon III:

The Supreme Court has refined this art [of using more words than necessary]writing the worlds only quadruple negative: This is not to say, however, that the prima facie case may not be met by evidence supporting a finding that a lesser degree of segregated schooling in the core city area would not have resulted even if the board had not acted as it did. Government cryptographers have tried to decipher this for years.2

Law professors also teach their students how to fight. According to most sources, students are taught to argue case law, which, by definition, is a fight. Although 90 per cent of all lawsuits filed end up being settled out of court, most of the cases settle only after clients on both sides of the dispute have spent considerable sums of money and experienced considerable disruption, to their lives, to their work, and to their finances. Being a problem-solving lawyer is not glamorous. Lawyers are taught to advocate their clients position regardless of whether it is morally the right position; todays lawyers are not even encouraged to have an opinion on whether a clients position is legally right. In the fight between the hired gun, mercenary and the peacemaker, it is always the peacemaker/facilitator that is undercut. Once your average aggressive, ambitious, argumentative personality-type has studied the law and graduated from law school, their next step is integration into to law industry, the world of law firms.

Gray et al, 1996.

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Competition among law firms became fierce in the 1980s; to attract the best and the brightest graduates, most law firms offered incredible starting salaries. The average starting salary for a lawyer became about $85,000 a year. For such a prize, law firms could be selective; the biggest firms, offering the largest starting salaries have their pick of the bunch. Instead of brains and brawn, the quality they looked for and valued the most, is greed. In the November 1992 issue of the National Jurist, it became clearer than ever what the major law firms looked for in prospective employees. Someone who could hit the ground running, one firm responded. In real terms, this means someone who requires little training, who generates billable hours immediately. Another source admitted they wanted candidates who were greedy and eager. Deduce from this information that those who arent interested in money, who, in Grays words, look on the law as an honored profession, an art, do not get the best or even the good jobs in this cut-throat industry. Deduce also that youre unlikely to encounter these noble few; the bright, brilliant but reverent lawyers. They dont tend to work for law firms that can afford the giant ads in the yellow pages. For the unprepared, encountering the legal system filled to the brim with ambitious, bloodthirsty, aggressive members of society is like entering shark-infested waters. In the words of attorney-businessman Mark McCormack, people who have sacrificed large amounts of time and money to get professional credentials doctors, lawyers, MBAs come away ferociously determined to get their investment back with interest from the system and from you! If they arent interested in getting the money back, they wont survive let alone thrive in the industry. The law industry is controlled and dominated by the money-hungry and the devious. The natural selection process of law schools and law firms employing new associates weeds out the weak-stomached. Lawyers, even the new and relatively inexperienced ones, are likely to overcharge you. In How Not To Get Screwed By Your Attorney, former lawyer Dudley Gray is frank about the billable hours that most lawyers invent. Three methods of billing are typically used by lawyers: the flat fee, the contingency fee, or the hourly rate.

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The flat fee is a fixed amount for a specific service. Youll probably be charged a flat fee if you want a lawyer to process your uncontested divorce, your incorporation papers, your name change papers, or your prenuptial agreement. In some cases, youll also be charged a flat fee for an immigration case or for certain tax-related filings. In reality, an attorney will only charge a flat fee if the work is extremely basic; so basic, in fact, you could do the work yourself. Most attorneys send off their flat fee work to their secretaries or their paralegals, who arent trained lawyers anyway. All the attorney will do is check over the papers to make sure everything is in order. Again, this is work you can do yourself. A step up from the flat fee, the contingency fee is used in slightly more complicated cases; when you probably do need an attorney to get the result you want. The catch to the contingency fee is that you might not get any of what you want, and if you get some of it, you definitely wont get all of it. Your attorneys contingency fee will make sure of that. Contingency fees are most commonly applied to personal injury cases. Most attorneys charge between 30% and 50% of any legal settlement after expenses. Youll probably find yourself paying your attorneys expenses regardless of whether or not you win your case. Beware of contingency fees. Most attorneys bill their clients by the hour. The hourly rate, the third and most common method of billing, reflects a number of things about the lawyer: their reputation and experience level, their education and credentials, their office rent and their other expenses. Attorneys typically charge between $150 and $600 an hour for their services, which are diverse and extremely difficult for you, the client, to keep track of. At this time, nine out of ten lawsuits are filed in the United States; by far the highest rate in the world. In 1995, the American Bar Foundation counted 896,000 lawyers in the United States, a number that has skyrocketed in the last ten years, to well over one million. Not only is a new law suit filed the equivalent of every 30 seconds in the United States, there are estimated to be over 100,000 law students in the country at this time. Anyone who owns a business or has a profession (e.g. a doctor, dentist, carpenter,

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builder, etc) has a one in three chance of being named as a defendant in a lawsuit in the next year. The statistics are staggering but conclusive: the legal system is out of control. With over one million lawyers, seventy percent of the worlds lawyers with only five percent of the worlds population to work with, competition for clients and for work is incredibly fierce. Lawyers have to be aggressive to get paid; its in their interests to persuade people they need to fight and sue left and right. The United States now spends hundreds of billions of dollars every year in efforts to avoid liability but such exorbitant spending is only necessary because lawyers across the country push for litigation and encourage everyone to sue indiscriminately. Lawyers in the United States have made it cheaper for companies to pay them as a preemptive measure; they have also made it viable for companies. There are, however, a number of problems with the aggressiveness of the legal system translated on a national scale. Not only is the United States practically obsessed with litigation, liability, and the law in general, it faces thirty times more lawsuits than Japan, for example, which is one of the primary trade competitors. While lawyers are as much as five times more likely to suffer from depression, they are casting a dark cloud over the rest of the American society, starting with industry. Product innovation in the United States is severely limited by inventor and investor concerns about liability. The health care industry is also raising the cost of care in an effort to protect itself from malpractice suits, a favorite of trial lawyers. Despite being a world leader is so many respects, the United States has an overwhelming number of underinsured and uninsured citizens, including children and the elderly. Lawyers and the legal system are somewhat culpable for some of the major quality-of-life issues in this country. Unless more people recognize this problem and become conscious of the extent to which lawyers and the legal system manipulate the general public, the situation can only deteriorate further.

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CHAPTER TWO THE ALTERNATIVES TO LAWSUITS

In an ideal world, filing a lawsuit would be the last resort in legal disputes. Unfortunately, as the statistics strongly suggest, Americas society is obsessed with the notion that lawsuits are the best and only option available to those who are or feel wronged by an individual, a company, or the state. Lawsuits are intended as the last resort to disputes. The court system is even designed, albeit loosely, to acknowledge that. Judges are supposed to attempt mediation before a case is formally brought to trial and lawyers are supposed to serve as problemsolvers and counselors as well as prosecutors. This all became clear to me late one night while watching the rerun of the 1998 movie A Civil Action, starring John Travolta and Robert Duvall. I'd seen the movie before, however the following quote didn't mean as much to me the first time as it did after spending several hundred thousand dollars in attorneys fees. Travolta's character, Jan Schlictmann made the following quote: "The odds of a plaintiff's lawyer winning in civil court are two to one against. Think about that for a second. Your odds of surviving a game of Russian roulette are better than winning a case at trial. 12 times better. So why does anyone do it? They don't. They settle. Out of the 780,000 cases, only 12,000 or 1 1/2 percent ever reach a verdict. The whole idea of lawsuits is to settle, to compel the other side to settle. And you do that by spending more money than you should, which forces them to spend more money than they should, and whoever comes to their senses first loses. Trials are a corruption of the entire process and only fools who have something to prove end up ensnared in them. Now when I say prove, I don't mean about the case, I mean about themselves."

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After hearing this it all became very clear to me how my attorneys had worked the system against me all these years. I could have cut my losses fifty percent or more by trying to mediate settlements as soon as I finished reading the original Plaintiffs complaint. In every frivolous lawsuit it took two or three years, and between $10,000.00 and $25,000.00 in attorney billable hours to get close to a court date. In every case the judge would order mediation before the case went to trial. In every case I would settle during mediation for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. So lets take one frivolous case and see how this could have been done quicker and cheaper. The case where I ran up approximately $25,000.00 in billable attorney fees and a settlement to the Plaintiff of $4,000.00 cost me $29,000.00 plus aggravation. Would it have been cheaper to offer an early $10,000.00 settlement or even a $15,000.00 settlement? Do you think your attorney will volunteer this option early in the process? Dont count on it. This is especially true if your attorney is in a medium to large firm where billable hours spell survival. Many attorneys are in a bill or perish mode all the time. Settlements, mediations, and arbitrations take up less time and require less paperwork; attorneys dont get the opportunity to overcharge as easily as they do in lawsuits. This is why large corporations have their own staff of attorneys. They can control cases in the direction of early resolution through settlement, regardless of whether the plaintiff is right or wrong, because the litigation alternative is more expensive. As I pondered this, it all become quite clear. The merits of a case have nothing to do with anything. It doesn't matter that they're wrong and you're right, or not liable. This is completely irrelevant. Trying to prove you're innocent to clear your good name makes you just another fool feeding a corrupt system. This all reminded me of a New Testament Bible verse in the Book of Luke. By the way, Luke was a Doctor who had probably seen his share of malpractice claims. Luke 12:58 reads: "For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison."

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For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate this process can take years in todays court system. On your way there make every effort to settle with him, weve already determined the wisdom of this statement. So that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison." You may have no control over a corrupt legal system, and the potential outcome could cost you much more than an early settlement. Consider for a moment the profound wisdom in this simple sentence. Three alternatives to legal action are settlements, mediations, and arbitrations. Anyone with a legal problem should consider these alternatives, as appropriate, before filing a lawsuit. Settlements, mediations, and arbitrations can save you a lot of time, money, and anxiety when you are faced with a legal problem.

Settlements Before a case is brought to trial, often right before, one or other of the parties involved in the dispute may come forward and offer a settlement. The details of any settlement generally reflect the most likely outcome of the pending trial and are offered as a means of saving parties the time and cost of a court appearance. A couple of things to keep in mind about settlements: You should always consider your position carefully before responding to a settlement offer. Although some attorneys advise clients to accept or decline on the basis of whether the settlement offer is too little or generous in relation to the strength of a case, you should also consider the financial aspects of going to trial. How much are you going to save in legal expenses if you accept the settlement? Be wary of lawyers who seem overly eager to settle when an offer is made. If a lawyer pushes you to settle, they are probably interested in protecting themselves from conviction for negligence if they mishandled your case: A prompt settlement reduces the risk that you will file a grievance with the bar or start a malpractice action3.

Hershkowitz Singer, S. (2003) Attorney Responsibilities and Client Rights.

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A settlement agreement has a number of components to it and you should bear in mind that 90% of all civil disputes are settled. Consider the settlement option before you spend large sums of money on litigation. The following items are generally featured in a standard settlement agreement: A concise description of the facts of the dispute. A provision stating the considerations being paid. This will include cash as well as any other compensation being made. A release that will completely bar either you or [your opposition] from bringing any action relating to the dispute being settled. The closing date that is, in effect, an escape from settlement. If for some reason, an unreasonably long delay in complying with the terms of the settlement occurs, both parties will be able to back out of the settlement. The settlement agreement should be signed under oath by the parties and before a notary. A provision for the way in which the parties will settle disputes over the settlement agreement if one arises. This may be through a court or through arbitration. A confidentiality clause may be included.4

Mediations The role of the mediator is to help parties solve problems in a cooperative manner. The mediator facilitates communication, which is often disrupted during legal disputes, and ensures that different angles are appreciated and taken into consideration. Mediation is generally very private and informal, allowing for all emotions to be expressed by the parties in dispute. Not only is mediation often a very successful process for solving disputes, there are a range of reasons why it is advantageous and recommended in most cases, including that:

Hershkowitz Singer (2003).

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90% of all civil cases are settled, most immediately before trial. Settling during mediation may avoid both the financial and the emotional investment that is required when you engage in litigation, and

The American Arbitration Association reported that 85% of the voluntary mediations it participated in nationwide resulted in settlement.

You [may] have an on-going relationship with the opposing party and want to continue the relationship;

There [may be] a mutual interest in resolving the dispute quickly Litigating the dispute will be a long and expensive proposition; Time [may be] of the essence.

You can obtain more information about mediation and mediators through the American Arbitration Association website (www.adr.org) or through local bar associations.

Arbitrations The method of resolving disputes known as arbitration has a long history; it was first developed by the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Subsequent use in the English legal system made arbitration a popular method of dispute resolution in the American legal tradition as well. In modern legal practice, there are three types of arbitration: voluntary, compulsory, and remedial. The basic process of arbitration has six stages: initiation, preparation, prehearing, conferences, hearing, decision making, and award. The initiation stage involves the introduction of the arbitrator, the mediator between the two disputing parties. The arbitrator may develop a signed agreement with the two parties, detailing a number of points: The nature of the arbitrators authority; What procedures are to be used during the formal hearing; A concise statement about the issue in dispute;

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Information about the amount of money or property that is involved in the case, if any; and

A brief summary of the relief that is sought by the two parties.

The other five stages of the arbitration process are similar to processes for a trial: the preparation stage involves the collection of evidence, including witness statements and other documentation about the case; the pre-hearing stage offers both sides a chance to formally prepare for the hearing by discussing the matter and administrative elements that will apply during the hearing. The hearing is run similar to a trial, with witnesses and examinations of evidence pertaining to the case. Arbitration does not involve public hearings, however, and very often even a court reporter is not used to keep a record of the proceedings. The decision in the case and the award are determined by the arbitrator, who is both the judge and the jury during the arbitration hearing. In most instances, the arbitrators decision is final and enforced by the law. You should consider arbitration in your case for a number of reasons: It is less costly and can save you considerable amounts of money in legal fees; It does not require the use of legal counsel; Resolutions are typically speedy, certainly in comparison to court-based resolutions; Hearings are typically less formal than court hearings; Arbitrators are also considered to have more experience in the matters they review than judges do, so the chances of a fair outcome in arbitration are often greater than in court-based hearings.

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CHAPTER THREE SO YOU NEED A LAWYER

Living in the United States, it is extremely unlikely that, during the entire course of you life, you will never need to hire an attorney. Its almost impossible youll never have to hire one; such is the nature of the American legal system. So what do you do when you have a legal problem? Before you hire a lawyer, you need to establish a number of key elements:

#1 What is the nature of your problem? #2 Do you actually need a lawyer? #3 What kind of lawyer do you need? #4 What do you need the lawyer to do? #5 How much should you pay? #6 What should you avoid?

The Nature of Your Problem Before you make any effort to address a legal problem, you have to define what the problem is. Do you have a personal problem or a business problem? Are you initiating the action against another person or business or are you likely to be the defendant in a legal action?

Do You Actually Need A Lawyer? Once you know what problem you have, decide whether you need a lawyer or whether you can solve the problem without involving one. No attorney will tell you this but you dont need a lawyer to represent you in traffic court. You dont need an attorney to process an uncontested divorce, and you generally dont need one to represent you in Small Claims Court. You dont need an

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attorney to draw up your forms for incorporation and you dont necessarily need one to process your immigration case. If your issue is uncomplicated and involves filling out and filing legal forms, you probably dont need an attorney at all. You have two options for saving on legal costs: do the work yourself or hire a paralegal to do the work for you. With a bit of time and effort, you can respond to or file an uncontested divorce, you can file incorporation documents, and you can file or respond to minor claims. It generally pays to do a bit of research but most forms are reviewed by court clerks before they can be filed; this saves judges and other legal professionals time and money contacting the claimants and informing them of what information is missing and what needs to be redone. Your other option is to hire a paralegal to complete the work for you. This will save you the time and energy of dealing with the issue yourself and is a relatively costeffective choice. The best way to find a paralegal is through an attorney friend, a court reporter, or a private investigator whose judgment you trust. The next best way is to investigate the professional requirements for paralegals within your state by calling your local bar association, and calling local organizations and listings. If your legal issue is complicated or involves a lot of money, you are best advised to hire a lawyer. Under certain circumstances and with the appropriate cautionary measures, a competent lawyer is the best protection you have against serious financial liability in the event of a major lawsuit.

What Kind of Lawyer Do You Need and How Should You Select A Lawyer? A jack-of-all-trades lawyer is generally not what you need to handle your legal issue. If you actually need a lawyer, then it pays to hire one who is specially trained and who is experienced in the area of law that you are particularly concerned with. There are many different types of law. You need to determine what type of lawyer you need, what area of specialty they should have. If you are dealing with a contested divorce, you need a divorce lawyer who is experienced with divorce cases. If youre divorce involves children

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and substantial property settlements, you need a lawyer who has a proven track record in dealing with these issues. If you are dealing with a business issue, you need a lawyer with experience and a proven track record in the particular area that concerns you, whether its corporate litigation, insurance, workers compensation, imports and exports, international business law, or tax-related issues. If your dealing with a criminal issue, you certainly need a lawyer with a track record in dealing with criminal law; you probably also need a trial lawyer.

Finding a List of Prospective Attorneys You need to have a list of at least three attorneys who may be able to handle your case competently. The best way to come up with such a list is to utilize the resources you have available, starting with personal referrals. Personal Referrals: The best way to find a lawyer is generally through someone whose judgment you trust. If you know an attorney, regardless of what area of law they deal with, they are likely to be able to give you some names of attorneys who may be able to help you. Call an attorney who specializes in an area of law that is not related to your issue and be sure to ask for the reasons behind positive and negative comments about all lawyers whose names come up. Bar Association Referrals: Around the country, bar associations, which are responsible for licensing attorneys to practice, have created lawyers referral services. For a nominal fee, volunteer attorneys offer initial client interviews and give the opportunity for potential clients to ask important legal questions about cases. Bar association referrals are usually relatively cheap, averaging around $50 for an initial consultation. They are often cost-effective as well, offering an opportunity to get an attorneys perspective on your case and tips about what you should do. You can probably also get a detailed list of specialists in the area of law in which you need assistance and sound recommendations.

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Martindale-Hubbell: A reference guide that lists lawyers by geographical area, the Martindale-Hubbell is always on option for picking lawyers and reading up on some of the details about any lawyers youre referred to. The guide, published since 1868, detailing individual lawyer specializations, their educational background, and any notable biographical details. Many lawyers are also given a rating, based on a poll of attorneys in the community. An A rating is considered very high, a B rating is high, and a C rating is fair. Ratings are offered for ability, experience, and honesty. The attorneys standard of ethics is also rated; the placement of a V next to the lawyers name indicates that they have a high standard of ethics, although the absence of such a rating does not necessarily mean that the lawyer is bad.

Pre-Paid Legal Plans: Some people have access to pre-paid legal plans, usually through payroll deduction, credit unions, trade unions, or credit card companies like American Express, for a low monthly fee. Referrals tend to amount to telephone listings only, so prepaid plans users should certainly utilize other resources to find out more about lawyers theyre referred to through pre-paid legal plans.

The Yellow Pages: One of the largest listings for lawyers is certainly your local phone directory. The Yellow Pages feature most lawyers in your area and may list lawyers under certain specifications. While the Yellow Pages is a good resource for finding lawyers names and getting some idea of which lawyers specialize in the area of law youre concerned with, lawyers pay for these ads. There is no independent organization verifying the information about lawyers specializations or experience. If you use the Yellow Pages or any other phone directory to get names and contact information for potential lawyers, you need to use another resource, such as the Martindale-Hubbell directory to get more information about the lawyers you are considering calling.

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Narrowing Your List The objective is to pull together a list of at least five or six attorneys who could handle your case. From that list you then begin making phone calls and arranging interviews. If you have a long list of prospects, you can minimize it by doing a bit of extra research. Calling the state bar and then going through the local courthouse civil case index you can find out whether any of the attorneys on your list have undergone disciplinary hearings or been directly involved, as either the plaintiff or defendant, in a civil law suit. You can find out whether any of your prospective attorneys has been sued for overcharging or malpractice. Going the extra mile is a fairly sure way of protecting yourself. You should also rule out lawyers who belong to big firms as they tend to be the most overworked and overwrought. They tend to operate in an extreme political corporate environment with the unending pressures of bill-or-perish. A legal issue rarely benefits from handling by such a person.

The Interview Phase Before you hire a lawyer, you need to interview them. After all, you are probably going to end up paying them a considerable sum of money to work for you. If you needed to hire a personal assistant or a secretary, you would interview them first. You need to be sure that the attorney you hire is the professional you are looking for so there are a number of questions you need to ask them and a number of things you need to discuss with them. Interviewing a lawyer can be a tricky business though. Some lawyers offer free consultations, requiring you to visit their offices to discuss your case. In most cases, you should avoid these lures. Free consultations are generally not consultations at all, but thirty minutes set aside by the attorney for chit-chat, after which they will insist that you retain them before they offer you any legal advice or assistance. You need to establish that youre interested in obtaining a clear impression of what the lawyer can and cannot do for you. There are several fundamental issues you need to discuss during the first interview with your first choice lawyer:

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#1 Have they handled legal matters like yours before? How many and what were the outcomes? #2 Do you have a case? What is the likelihood of mediation? #3 Who, in the lawyers office, will handle the case? #4 How does the lawyer charge and how much? How much do his secretaries and paralegals charge? #5 What are the standard payment arrangements? #6 Does the lawyer want a retainer? What for and how much? Is it refundable? #7 Does the lawyer have experience dealing with the opposition or with the judge in the case?

You also need to make sure your attorney draws up a precise contract, detailing every aspect of the agreement you have made. This contract is a good defense against being ripped off, so dont waiver your right to have one.

What Do You Need the Lawyer to Do? When you hire a lawyer, it helps to understand precisely what you want them to do for you. Understanding what you want or need in a legal matter is often easier said than done. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind:

No matter how honest and honorable your lawyer is, they are probably going to end up charging you a lot of money. Avoid spending a lot of money on legal issues if you can.

If you can resolve an issue quickly and out of court, it is usually the best solution.

With these things in mind, one of the first things you should discuss with your lawyer is the possibility of mediation. Lawyers rarely offer, but mediation is perhaps one of the best practices a lawyer can undertake for their client. As another source concurs:

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Lawyers know that settling a case quickly will save clients a bundle in legal fees. In fact, the rules of professional conduct require lawyers to consider alternative ways of settling disputes, such as mediation. For obvious reasons, though, not all lawyers urge you in this direction. I have heard lawyers who work on the premise: the longer I keep you in court, the more money I make5

You should keep in mind that, in litigation and family law cases, mediators are particularly effective.

Unlike a judge, [mediators] tend to target the emotional issues behind many conflicts. (He hung up before I could explain! She cheated with my best friend! He wouldnt trim his hedge when I asked!) They then help parties settle out of court. According to Toronto family mediator Barbara Landau, the process often begins with a simple apology. "When someone hears, 'I'm sorry,' the trust rises and the anger deflatesInstead of wasting time and money running to court, we problem-solve."6

Make sure your attorney is prepared to negotiate and mediate if there is any possibility of that; a gun-ho attitude does not always pay, particularly in very personal instances, such as divorce cases. On the other hand, you dont want an attorney who makes a poor effort at representing your interests. Whether mediation is attempted or not, your attorney needs the right balance: neither too conciliatory nor to inflexible.

5 6

Myers, R.C. (2005) The 10 Things Lawyers Wont Tell You, MoneySense Magazine, November 2005. Myers (2005).

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How Much Should You Pay? When you get around to talking money with your attorney, talk specifics. Exactly how much are they going to charge you? What are they going to charge you for? Depending on the nature of your case, your attorney will work for a flat fee, a contingency fee, or an hourly rate. Small, uncomplicated jobs are generally worked on for a flat fee; you should consult a couple of attorneys to compare prices. Personal injury lawyers are primarily responsible for contingency fees and the slogan, We only get paid if you do. Of course, theres a catch. Lawyers in particular, rarely work for nothing and will probably bill you for expenses regardless of whether or not you win your case. Always discuss the expenses with an attorney who asks for a contingency fee. You should also keep in mind that a standard contingency fee is between thirty and fifty percent. Lawyers generally charge hourly rates of between $150 and $600; anything above this is either an indication that you have one of the best lawyers out there or an indication that youre being grossly misled. Check the rate of your lawyers secretary and their paralegals; consider that you may end up paying their hourly rates as well. Find out how often you will be billed by your lawyer and how often they expect payment. Remember that everything to do with money is negotiable so discuss an arrangement with your lawyer that suits you. Get all terms written down in a contract that you and your lawyer can sign.

What You Should Avoid and Why An apt analogy: hiring a lawyer is like buying a car second hand. You rarely know anything about the quality or reliability until youve been around the block a few

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times. You rarely know whether a lawyer is good and reliable until youve worked with them for a while on your case. You can look out for a couple of tell-tale signs, though. When you interview with your lawyer, a couple of things may tell you its time to walk away and find someone else. Any lawyer who tries to give you business advice is a no-no. Lawyers rarely know anything about business, so the advice is probably bad. Its also outside of their scope; you dont hire a lawyer to give you business advice; youre paying enough for the legal advice you did ask for. Stick to law. Dont be fooled by the lawyer who swamps you with legal jargon or goes off your problem to overwhelm you with his expertise. Lawyers who try to impress with an all-out legal jargon attack either dont know what theyre doing or have an ego that may cloud their judgment in handling your case. Unless youre in for a show-trial, avoid ostentatious lawyers. Walk away from any attorney who advertises as a specialist only to refer you to someone else. Only general practicing attorneys should refer you to a specialist. Even then, beware. Some indiscriminate lawyers make a good living from referrals alone. You dont want to unnecessarily pay for someone elses meal ticket so find your own specialist. If your attorney cannot give you their full attention during your allotted meeting time, walk away. An attorney who allows interruption during your meeting time is unprofessional and unlikely to give your case the attention it deserves. Finally, stay away from the used-car salesmen of law; attorneys who aggressively promise you big wins rarely deliver. Your money is better spent elsewhere.

Points to Consider When You Need An Attorney The principle reason attorneys have such a bad image is their ferocious greed. The client is at high risk to get swindled, but theres very little you can do to protect yourself.
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You can dispute your lawyers charges on the bills that your receive, explaining why you consider an item unreasonable. You can ask your lawyer to reduce the charges. But if your lawyer refuses, theres little you can do to push them. Unless you can prove your attorney was dishonest in their open financial dealings, youre unlikely to get any retribution. Attorneys know how to bill their clients. They know how to create billable hours and to cover their tracks. In 2004, the Law Society of British Columbia received 1,534 complaints about lawyers in the province and ordered only 30 penalties. And what youre lawyer will never tell you: its tough to win a case against them for malpractice: Some 68% of malpractice claims from 1996 through 1999 closed without the client receiving payment from the lawyer's insurance company, and only 6.7% netted more than $50,000, according to a 2001 ABA survey Why is it so hard? For one thing, only an estimated 30 to 50% of lawyers even carry insurance, so collecting is a long shot. Plus, to win your case, you have to prove not only that the lawyer failed to perform but also that your case would have turned out differently had he done a better job. Hard to do, since a legal issue is seldom a slam-dunk, even if the lawyer does everything right.7

You should also watch out for the overworked, overstressed lawyers who could prove a general hindrance to your case. Amongst the most common impairments to lawyers professional abilities are uncovered by disciplinary cases filed by clients:

An Illinois survey found that 40-75% of discipline cases involve a chemically dependent or mentally ill practitioner.

What Your Lawyer Will Never Tell You (2003).

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A Louisiana study found that 80% of Client Protection Fund cases involve chemical dependency or a gambling component.

A study by John Hopkins Medical School found that of 28 occupations surveyed, lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to suffer depression than the average person.

All fifty states have developed lawyer assistance programs or committees focused on quality of life issues, employing the use of intervention, peer counseling, and referral to Twelve Step Programs to assist in the lawyers recover process.8

In the event that your attorneys billing is suspect or if you suspect your lawyer may have a mental illness or dependency issue of any kind, you must dismiss them immediately. The best way to protect yourself from your lawyer is to be vigilant and involved with your case so that you can note discrepancies in their billing and performance.

What Message Is Your Law Firm Sending the Opposition On final issue to keep in mind is the message your new law firm may be sending to the opposition. If you hire the best known, most expensive law firm in your area thinking that their downtown, high-rise, multi-floor mahogany cathedral will intimidate, impress, or cower the opposition you could be making a big mistake. This is especially true if youre the Defendant in the case. You may be sending a message that you have a lot to lose and youll do anything to protect it. This can and will get in the way of an early settlement option for any reasonable amount of money. Your opponents attorney will smell blood in the water, I mean money and assets you want to protect. So be careful what messages your law firm may project that could hinder your position.

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CHAPTER FOUR ACCOUNTING BY LAWYERS

#1 Billable Hours The term, billable hours, is something that attorneys become very familiar with as soon as they graduate from law school. The ability to generate billable hours is what major law firms are looking for; more than any other talent or skill, generating billable hours gets attorneys a plush office and a big pay check. In How Not To Get Screwed By Your Lawyer, Gray quotes Abraham Lincoln: A lawyers time is his stock and trade. Its a phrase to take literally.

If you ever received a bill for an attorneys time, you probably had the naggingfeeling that you were being grossly over charged. You can rest assured that you are not paranoid and that your suspicious were probably justified. Overcharging for legal fees is so ingrained in the system that it has becomean accepted practiceAt many large firms, it has become a requirement. In addition to salaries, large law firms typically spend considerable amounts of money for office space in high-rent office buildings and auxiliary expenses like plush office furnishings and fixtures to impress clients.9

Attorneys learn very quickly how to generate billable hours and thus how to rip off their clients. As Grays anecdotal fledgling attorney peruses, forty hours a week at $100 per hour adds up to $200,000, not $300,000Where does the other $100,000 come from?

Gray, et al (1996).

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Billable hoursthats what its all about. How many dollars you can squeeze out of every file. The trick is how to make forty minutes equal an hour, and its not at all difficult10

Any time your attorney spends working on your case, you will be charged. Sometimes when they are not working on your case, you will also be charged. Its important that you, the client, review every bill your attorney sends and its important that you carefully review the number of hours you are being charged for.

Trick #1: A phone call is time, and time is money Most legal cases require attorneys to make phone calls. They may call you to discuss an issue. They may call your associates, your opposition, or your oppositions attorney. Your lawyer may also call other lawyers, expert witnesses, and secondary people. Every time they make a phone call, you will be billed for the time. To avoid overcharging on this item, insist that your attorney keeps a time log of the time they spend on each phone call. Make sure you also keep a time log of phone calls with your attorney. Find out if there is a minimum charge per phone call as some firms bill for a minimum of, say, one fifth of an hour.

Trick #2: One of the best ways to build up your hours is to review the file. You also need to keep an eye on billing items that fall into the categories of case reviews. To pad their hours, many attorneys bill for reviewing your case file. This covers a multitude of sins, as Gray explains in his anecdotal story of the fledgling attorney:

Review the complaint, the answer, the depositions, the interrogations, the documents, the legal briefs, the motions review it al. Now, review doesnt have to mean sitting down and actually reading the file. If you think about the
10

Gray, et al (1996).

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case when you are driving to work or going home even when your taking a shower you are reviewing the case, so bill for it. You spend two hours a day driving two and from work; think about the case and dont forget to record the time Another important tip: Get to know your opposition. He is not your enemy. On the contrary. Hes probably a junior associate, just like you, and is trying to get ahead. You can get ahead together. Take him to lunch and discuss the information you need. Hell appreciate it. He has billable hours and so do you. If you have a question, dont hesitate to get in touch with one of your colleagues at the firm and ask his opinion. Back this up in your file by inserting a memo that says, for example, I would appreciate the comments of the Real Property Division before proceeding further. That will give you backup in case the client questions the bill.11

Question items on the bill that look to be padded time, particularly if the item is related to reviewing the case. Dont underestimate the guile of attorneys when it comes to bill padding. In the case involving the Los Angeles Police Department versus Rodney King, the losing party was obliged to reimburse the winning party for legal fees and expenses incurred during the trial. According to Grays notations, Rodney Kings attorneys billed him for $4.4 million dollars; the bill was passed on the City of Los Angeles, which was also obliged to pay Kings $3.8 million dollars in damages. Among the listed items, Kings attorneys had charged $81.25 for reading a newspaper article about the trial, $650.00 for attending Kings birthday party, and $1,300.00 for accompanying King to see the film Malcom X.

11

Gray, et al (1996).

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Why You Should Worry About The Bill In one way or another, extravagant bills passed on to city and state authorities end up being paid for by the tax-payers. To stop extravagant billing at this level, it is necessary to stop it at the grass roots level. Strongest arguments exist against the use of the hourly rate for billing, which is, after all, the most common form of billing among attorneys. One of the strongest is that hourly billing rates rarely encourage lawyers to get a job done quickly. Lawyers are difficult to sue and their work is difficult to keep track of. They often get away with overcharging clients so there is no real risk to them stalling on their work. To facilitate the best possible outcome for your legal case, at the best possible cost, you should establish our intention to keep a tight reign on your purse strings and to dispute billing discrepancies. Moreover, you should arrange with your lawyer that if the work is completed satisfactorily within a certain time frame, you will pay them a bonus. If the work is not completed satisfactorily or if it takes an unnecessarily long time, you should make clear that you will dock the payment. The way to control a lawyer is to appeal to their greed: pay them well if they do a good and fast job. Dont pay them if they do a bad job and stall your case.

#2 Stalling The Legal Process Aside from watching the bill and billable hours, knowing as much as possible about how your case can or should be handled will help you to keep down your legal costs and push your lawyer to do a good job quickly. A number of important legal processes should become familiar to you, the first of which are writs and motions. Remember that your familiarity with these processes, what they are intended to do and how lawyers abuse their practice, may save you a lot of time and money in your legal battle.

Two of the most basic aspects of the United States legal system relate to the notion that it is unlawful to undertake any legal action without offering the opposition

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proper and timely notice of the action you have taken. Writs and motions are behind this principle. However, you need to monitor the writs and motions filed in your case. There are lawyers and not just a few of them who do nothing but file frivolous motions so they can bill for the court time12. Attorneys are required to appear before a judge to review and verify all motions filed, providing excellent billable hours and opportunities for bill padding.

Discovery is the disclosure of that which was previously hidden and in law it is used to facilitate the discovery of the truth of a case and, although this is rarely the outcome, to facilitate dispute settlement. Unfortunately, lawyers tend to subvert the process of discovery and turn it to their advantage. An incredible 80% of legal bills owed by American companies comprised of charges for discovery. In most major and medium-sized law firms, attorneys pad their bills for discovery by gathering essentially useless volumes of information, and unrelated documents. Documents are rarely read by discovery attorneys, or anyone else you are paying, for that matter. Discovery charges are not only used to pad bills to clients, they can be used to push your opposition over the edge financially.

Too often today, lawyers are using discovery rules not to find the facts, but to force a financially weaker opponent to surrender by making costly demands for documents and voluminous and often unnecessary interviews of possible witnesses.13

If your case involves discovery, be sure to keep tabs on this as well. Dont just ask to see the documents, because most lawyers will be able to pass them on to you. Ask to

12 13

Gray, et al (1996). Gray, et al (1996).

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know precisely how the information is being used to further your case; less is generally more.

Interrogations are written questions used by lawyers to formally request particular information from the opposition. Once a complaint is filed in the court the first set of interrogations are sent by mail to the opponents counsel with instructions on how answers should be provided. Beware that interrogations often run to second, third, and fourth sets of questions back and forth between opposing lawyer parties. You or your opponents can also object to answering questions put before you, leading to motions to compel, affidavits and declarations, and legal briefs supporting them. When you check the bills from your attorney, look out for interrogations. If the amount looks excessive, ask for clarification and be prepared to find another attorney. You should keep a particularly close watch on depositions. In legal cases, a deposition is an examination of a witness taken under oath, with every word taken down verbatim by a court reporter. Depositions are particularly costly and can be abused in several ways. One of the most common abuses is the practice of deposing everyone who has a remote connection to the case. The second method of abuse is the practice of asking many unnecessary and off-topic questions of each witness, resulting in pages of questions and answers from the witness that have no bearing on the case. As you have to pay for the attorneys time and all elements related to the production of a transcript (the court reporter, the paper, the printer ink, etc), it is worth your while to also keep tabs on your attorneys use of depositions; again being prepared to challenge the bill and to walk away if you have trouble. If your case does go to court, as discussed earlier, you also need to be aware of the Mandatory Settlement Conference that will be required in relation to your case. Most courts in America have mandatory settlement conferences as part of the judicial process. The purpose is to have both sides and their attorneys appear before a judge to discuss the case and attempt to facilitate reconciliation.

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There are, however, a number of problems with the mandatory settlement conferences:

Mandatory Settlement Conferences (MSCs) are ordinarily held after discovery has been completed and huge attorneys fees have piled up. Similarly, courts of appeal establish settlement conferences, but only after briefs have been filed and extensive legal fees have been charged.14

You are at risk to be billed excessively for your attorneys efforts relating to the MSC as well. Not only will you be billed for the actually time spent before the judge, but your attorney is likely to review notices relating to the MSC and to make further use of the time.

Keeping a handle on your attorney is important. It is a violation of your rights if your attorney charges you excessive fees and it is your attorneys responsibility to do a good job with your case. Consider the following notes on excessive fees presented in a general guide to attorneys responsibilities and clients rights:

All fees must be reasonable based on the circumstances Whether the fee is excessive depends upon the circumstances. What seems excessive may actually be considered a reasonable fee. Based upon the lawyers location, the community where they lawyer practices, the customary charges in the area, education, expertise, and experience, and size of the law firm, as well as the complexity of the matter, a lawyers rates may seem exorbitant, but indeed be considered reasonableThe standard to determine if the fee was excessive is based on
14

Gray, et al (1996).

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asking if the fee charged was so exorbitant and disproportionate to the service rendered that a persons conscious would be shocked.15

If you think you are being overcharged, attain answers to the following questions: How much time and labor was actually required? Is it reasonable that the work could have taken substantially less time than your lawyer charged you for? What was the level of difficulty for the task or for the case? Was the issue familiar to the lawyer? What special skills did the lawyer have to exercise to complete the work? Did your case require your lawyer to neglect other work and turn down other work? What is the standard fee charged in your area for the work that your lawyer completed? What is your attorneys reputation and standing within the legal community? Are they considered experts in the area of legal practice with which your case was concerned? If the case involved damages or money, how much money was involved and what was the outcome of the case? Did you impose time limitations on your attorney? Did circumstances impose time limitations? What is the nature of your professional relationship with the lawyer who handled your case? What are the lawyers levels of experience, reputation, and ability? Was the fee fixed or contingent?

Review your answers to these questions and be prepared to take up any issues with your lawyer and the bar association.

15

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CHAPTER FIVE AVOIDING COMMON PROBLEMS

Different areas of law attract different kinds of attorneys. Different kinds of attorneys have different methods for overcharging and disrupting clients and their cases. This section offers information of the main areas of law and the particular problems relating to each area; what you should look out for and be aware of when you hire and work with a lawyer to resolve an issue pertaining to a specific area of law.

Bankruptcy Law Massive changes in the structure of American industries forced millions of people to file for bankruptcy in the face of economic ruin. Although the most significant downsizing took place during the 1980s and early 1990s, bankruptcy, now a legal specialty, remains a serious consideration for many individuals and families who can no longer meet their expenses and debts. Unfortunately, many bankruptcy lawyers create more problems for their clients. Bankruptcy was quickly represented as the panacea for the financial problems of the beleaguered public16. The first thing to bear in mind: liquidation bankruptcies are considered fairly routine. They also take relatively little time. For an attorney, processing liquidation bankruptcies can generate a very high financial return, so consult with an attorney or alternative financial adviser before you accept an attorneys suggestion that you file for bankruptcy. When you consider filing for bankruptcy, you need to be clear about the consequences. Attorneys will readily tell you several positives about filing. They may tell you that bankruptcy will: erase all your debts; protect your property from creditors;

16

Gray, et al (1996).

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stop your ex-spouse from receiving alimony, child support, or properties divided in the divorce proceedings;

not affect your credit rating.

Unfortunately, these so-called outcomes of bankruptcies are myths. Bankruptcy has serious repercussions for your financial health. Although it will offer you a temporary stay and may allow you to sue creditors who ignore the automatic stay, bankruptcy does not automatically protect your property or cancel all of your debts. The big problems with bankruptcy, about which most bankruptcy attorney will not tell you, are: Any bankruptcy will appear in your credit history for ten years, making it difficult to obtain credit or do anything that requires a good credit rating. After filing for bankruptcy, it becomes almost impossible for you to ever secure a mortgage because you are labeled as a foreclosure risk.

Instead of going to a bankruptcy attorney you should investigate your other options. One of the first you should consider is the Consumer Credit Counseling Service or CCCS. The CCCS is a national, non-profit organization that provides debt counseling, budget planning, and debt consolidation for a small fee. They will give you, at the least, an independent opinion of whether or not you need to file for bankruptcy. Look in your local phone directory under Credit and Debt Counseling to find your local listings. Debt counselors will also help you understand what type of bankruptcy filing may be appropriate for you. Dont trust a lawyer to make this decision for you. There are three main types of bankruptcy: Chapter 7: This is the most common form of bankruptcy, filed by the average consumer to overcome credit card charges and other debts. The repercussions are, however, very serious. Although you can overcome certain substantial debts, a long-term record of the bankruptcy will leave you with a very poor credit rating. You may not be able to purchase a home or a car. You may also find it difficult to rent properties or obtain

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approval for other amenities that are awarded for average to good credit ratings. Chapter 13: This type of bankruptcy allows you to work on a plan to pay off your creditors over a set period of time. You can file under this chapter if you have unsecured debts of under $100,000 and secured debts of under $350,000. This chapter does, however, depend upon a judge approving your debt repayment plan; if the plan is not approved, your bankruptcy filing may be converted to a Chapter 7 and you then are at risk to lose property in liquidation. Chapter 11: The most complicated form of bankruptcy, Chapter 11 is generally reserved for business people or for people who have assets outside of the limits imposed by Chapter 13. Because of its complexity, a Chapter 11 filing should always be undertaken with the assistance of an experienced and competent bankruptcy attorney.

Before you go about looking for an attorney, consult with debt counselors to determine whether bankruptcy filing is right for you and what type of filing you should undertake. Then consider your other options: could you file for bankruptcy yourself (with the help of do-it-yourself guides and resources)? Could you use a paralegal to do the work and save yourself the attorney fees? If you decide that you need an attorney, you need to watch out for a number of types. Avoid like the plague: Attorneys who have ever been disciplined by the bar or put on probation. Attorneys who actively solicit your business. Any lawyer who wants you to sign over a second trust deed on your home to secure his legal fees. Any attorney who is not upfront about their fees, stating explicitly, in writing, what they will do for the fee they quote to you and what extras are not included and will be additional costs.

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Criminal Law To emphasis the importance of finding a capable attorney to represent you in criminal cases, its worth quoting Dudley Grays key passage on the issue in How Not To Get Screwed By Your Attorney. Drawing from experience, he states that thousands of people go to jail every year because their criminal attorneys were inept, lazy, or downright stupid.

The importance of having a competent criminal attorney in your corner from the outset of your case is even greater if youre innocent. As a criminal attorney who has tried every kind of case, including fifty homicides cases[Dudley Gray] has witnessed many times the tragic results of an innocent person being asked by the police, Do you want an attorney?, and answering, Why would I need an attorney? I didnt do anything. Without the aid of a good criminal attorney, an innocent person can easily get railroaded straight to prison.17

An even more poignant point is made in the paragraph following, that

Nobody cares if your innocent not the cops, not the prosecutor, not even your attorneyWith criminal attorneys, the game is money. With cops and prosecutors, the game is to rack up enough arrests and convictions to make them look good in the eyes of the high ups. To both sides, the criminal justice system is nothing but a game, and you are a pawn on the board.18

17 18

Gray, et al (1996). Gray, et al (1996).

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There are two types of crimes and attorneys who specialize in criminal law may not actually specialize in both types. Misdemeanors are the less serious crimes, such as driving under the influence, shoplifting, petty theft, writing bad checks, drunkenness in public, or trespassing. These types of criminal cases constitute the majority. Felonies, on the other hand, are more serious crimes, like burglary, murder, manslaughter, robbery, narcotics dealing, and major fraud. As felonies almost always carry jail time, you should not waste time with a bad attorney. Take the time and put in the effort it takes to find a good attorney. There are a number of things you should avoid: Dont call an attorney from jail with the intent of having them represent you. Its a waste of your time and of the phone call. Call a bail bondsman instead or make other arrangements to have bail posted. Start looking for an attorney once you are out of jail. Dont hire corporate or non-criminal attorneys to represent you in a criminal case under any circumstance. Even in white-collar crimes, which corporate attorneys have been known to handle, hire a criminal attorney with experience. Corporate and other non-criminal attorneys invariably botch criminal cases. Avoid the high profile law firms with the big gun lawyers. Youre case will not receive the attention it deserves from these types, but youll be charged astronomical amounts for representation. Avoid the court appointed attorneys if at all possible. Under law, if you cant afford your own representation then the state will appoint on for you. Judges usually appoint the same lawyers, known in the trade as roundheels, because they roll over easily on every chargeThey will never take a case to trial, they wont make a lot of motions which the judge will have to rule on, and theyll grind the client down quickly to cop a plea so that the judge can keep his afternoon golf date19.

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Gray, et al (1996).

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Dont hire the courthouse hustlers, who pick you out as the defendant in a case and scare you into accepting their legal counsel. Youll also be handing over your purse strings to these types so avoid them.

Stay away from attorneys who appear afraid to go to trial. They generally have very little experience and the experience they have of being in a courtroom has scared them for life. They wont be able to help you, even if it is best to avoid going to trial in your case. Youre attorneys judgment should not be impaired.

Never hire the criminal attorney who promises he can solve all your problems in the face of inevitable, looming disaster20. They run scams to overcharge you and get the same results a reasonable attorney would for a fraction of the price.

Family Law: Divorce Most family law issues center around child custody and, thus, in many instances, around divorce. Divorce is an area of law that many lawyers, good lawyers, avoid like the plague, because it is so often driven and complicated by extremely powerful emotions between the two parties. Its generally better to have a divorce mediated or to try to discuss a settlement with your spouse without involving a third party. If you do hire a divorce lawyer, avoid the following types: Lawyers who offer cheap divorces, also known as divorce mill lawyers. Stay away from lawyers who only represent one gender (men who only represent men; women who only represent women) in divorce cases. They invariably have conflicting interests and will do you no good in the long run. Attorneys who add fuel to the fire of any dispute between you and your spouse are going to create more problems than you need or can afford.

20

Gray, et al (1996).

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Aggression is a key element in their behavior and you dont need any negative emotions from your lawyer. Avoid attorneys who have a reputation for being difficult. Stay away from attorneys who are afraid to go to court. While you should try and avoid going to court in divorce cases, sometimes it is necessary for you to get a fair settlement.

Generally you should stipulate what you want specifically in an agreement and insist upon it, provided it is reasonable. You shouldnt let your attorney bully you into accepting or renouncing anything you want. Get everything in writing and read everything before you sign it.

Personal Injury Law Keep in mind the disturbing fact: Less than 50 cents if every liability dollar often considerably less ends up in the pockets of the injured. Follow the general advice to find a good, reliable, and competent personal injury lawyer. Dont go with the following types: Lawyers who want 50% of winnings as their contingency fee. Between about 30% and 35% is the maximum any lawyer should ask to receive. Any attorney you hear about via a third party, like the tow truck driver who tows your damaged car, or the nurses, doctors, or attendants in the hospital. Ambulance chasers. These attorneys you happen to meet while youre in hospital after an accident or who calls you up shortly afterwards to solicit you business. Any lawyer who advertises on television. The better the ad, the worse the attorney will be for you, your case, and your wallet.

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Probate Law Probate law refers to the procedure that changes the legal ownership of property when a person dies. To avoid length legal disputes among your surviving relatives, it is certainly advisable, if considerable property is at stake, to draft a will that properly reflects how you want your property to be divided and distributed among your surviving relatives.

Real Estate Law To avoid complications, in some real estate dealings you need to have the assistance of a qualified attorney. The most common instances are: When you have purchased a home or another major property and you find that the seller misrepresented the building, concealing elements such as environmental hazards. When the lender on your property or one of your creditors begins a foreclosure on the property for nonpayment of a debt. When you are involved in a complex real estate deal. When you are involved in an unsolvable landlord-tenant dispute. When a transaction involves insurance issues or claims. When you are being sued or suing for breach of contract.

Unlike most other types of lawyers, real estate lawyers are generally trust worthy. Some states also require or strongly advise that you hire a lawyer to review your real estate purchase deal, in which case you are fine hiring a lawyer from the equivalent of a personal injury mill. Real estate mills, where lawyers deal with a high-volume of basic real estate cases, are perfectly reputable and the ideal place to find a real estate lawyer to handle a simple case. When you have a more complex case involving real estate, you are strongly advised to seek out a real estate lawyer with experience handling cases similar to yours. Saving money and controlling your lawyer involve you being duly diligent. The same thing applies when you are contemplating a real estate deal and would like to avoid the need to hire a lawyer. Be diligent: ask for a contract and reading every element; know

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your rights and your landlord or attorneys responsibilities; get everything in writing so that it is clear if your contract or agreement is breached later on.

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SUMMARY

At some time in our lives, were all likely to deal with attorneys. It is the nature of the society we live in; its only becoming more so. Attorneys can be as horrendous as their public image suggests; indeed, this report draws from sound evidence of attorney malpractice and general illegal activities, such as padding bills and deliberately misleading clients to make a profit. But acknowledging the problem is the first step to finding the solution. Understanding the way that lawyers are likely to try to swindle you, as their client, is the first step to protecting yourself. Being vigilant and diligent about selecting and working with an attorney are the two other pieces to the puzzle. Not all lawyers are corrupt, incompetent, and downright criminal. Some do still believe the law to be a hallowed profession, despite the personal issues it also creates for many practitioners, including depression and substance abuse issues, as reports from medical research institutions like Johns Hopkins indicate. Recognizing that there are other options besides filing lawsuits and following through with litigation is the second step to avoiding costly legal bills, which you may be subject to, even if you have an honest and competent lawyer. Always ask yourself: Do I need an attorney? Can this problem be resolved by settlement, mediation, or arbitration before you consider a trial or hefty litigation?

When you need an attorney, always take the trouble to find a competent one and always stay involved in the litigation of your case.

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