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| Murray Gottheil |
Bill is fairly new to the legal profession. Bill works for Sue, who has been around quite a while, has a boutique practice and has made a name for herself handling high-profile cases.
Bill left a smaller firm for Sue’s firm, bringing with him a small claims court matter for Bob. Bill told Bob the case was a winner. He agreed the new firm would complete the matter at the hourly rate he was charging at his old firm, which was lower than his hourly rate at the new firm.
Bill was much busier at his new firm than he was at his old firm. As Sue’s junior, he was needed on Sue’s high-profile cases.
Bob was a good client. He paid his bills promptly and without question. As the trial approached, Bill quoted a significant amount for trial prep and attendance at the trial. At the same time, he pressured Bob to submit an Offer to Settle at an amount Bob considered to be too low. An independent observer could be forgiven for thinking Bill just wanted Bob to settle on whatever terms could be reached. Bob swallowed hard, insisted on putting in the Offer to Settle at a higher amount, and agreed to pay the amount quoted if the case went to trial, despite it being out of proportion to the amount in issue.
Suddenly, Sue got involved, and Sue and Bill tried to pressure Bob to terminate their retainer just a few days before trial. They tried to convince Bob that he had lost confidence in their representation, and that there had been a breakdown in communication, using all the right buzzwords to support an application to get off the record. It was all nonsense. It certainly looked like Sue just wanted Bob gone, one way or another, so Bill could devote his efforts to a bigger case for a more important client, even if it meant leaving Bob unrepresented at trial.
I wish I could say I had never heard of a law firm sacrificing a small fish because they could feast on a whale. I was fortunate to have practised with lawyers who were (almost) always ethical. It was not that difficult, really. We put the client first. Big ones. Small ones. It did not matter. Once they were our clients, we did our best for them.
Sue is a blight on the profession. Bill had a bright future but is now on a path to become just like Sue. I feel like I should buy a billboard and put it outside Bill’s house to remind him that, whether you have been practising for five minutes or 50 years, your ethical obligations are the same, and “the partner told me to do it” is not a valid defence.
If only I did not want to hold on to my investments in retirement, I would tell you the real names of these lawyers. But I do, so I will not. Sue will likely keep on with her self-serving ways while giving lawyers a bad name. She will likely train Bill to be just like her.
This is the first of a two-part series. Read the second article: Refresher on legal ethics for unscrupulous litigators, part two.
Murray Gottheil is a retired lawyer living in the country, happy and driving a pickup truck. Reach him at murray@murraygottheil.com and see what he is up to at www.lawanddisorderinc.com.
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