Mar 06, 2014 · Resist these temptations with aggressive clients and soon other lawyers will be referring all of their difficult clients to you (insert evil laughter here). Ryan Sullivan has been a trial lawyer for almost 14 years, practicing exclusively indigent criminal defense.
Sep 24, 2015 · The true meaning of being an aggressive attorney is to be aggressive in pursuing the client’s best interests. Every attorney should make that his or her priority and conduct him/herself accordingly. Being aggressive means to thoroughly examine the client’s case and seek the best outcome in the most affordable way.
When you seek advice from an attorney about a legal matter, your private communications with your lawyer are protected by the attorney-client privilege. This means that your lawyer cannot reveal any information that you disclose to him or her in confidence, unless you give your express permission.
Be courteous to your lawyer and his or her team. Don’t ask your lawyer to do anything illegal or unethical. Pay your legal bills in a timely manner. These duties are often implied as part of the attorney-client relationship, even if you didn’t expressly agree to them in a retainer agreement.
If your lawyer violates these rules, he or she can be disciplined or even face a legal malpractice suit.
Each state has its own ethical rules for lawyers, called the rules of professional conduct. When lawyers fail to live up to this code of conduct, the state disciplinary board can take action against them—from a simple warning to disbarment (losing the license to practice law forever).
The Client Review Rating score is determined through the aggregation of validated responses. People who submit reviews are either individuals who consulted with the lawyer/law firm or who hired the lawyer/law firm and want to share their experience of that lawyer or law firm with other potential clients. Reviewers can be anyone who consults or hires a lawyer including in-house counsel, corporate executives, small business owners, and private individuals.
represent you competently, zealously, and within the bounds of the law. keep conversations with you confidential, except in specific and rare occasions. communicate with you in a timely and effective manner. keep you informed of developments in your case.
return your money or property upon request, including your client file. If your lawyer’s actions were also illegal, he or she can be criminally prosecuted. And, if your lawyer caused you to lose your case or otherwise suffer a financial loss, you can sue for legal malpractice.
Try to see the process through their eyes. While you have done 1,000 depositions, they have never done one. I have had several criminal law clients who would make the sign of the cross before walking into court. Never forget how scary the entire process can be to someone going through it for the first time. Often, my clients in criminal matters ask me if the judge will book them directly from court to jail.
Being able to work with different types of clients is a vital skill for all lawyers. While developing a complete skillset for client management takes many years, all lawyers can take one step to better understand their clients. The step is figuring out where the client fits into one of the four broad client types.
The second type of client is the opposite of the first-time client, which is the frequent-flier client . This is the client who always needs the services of a lawyer and has been through the court system many times. I remember when I was a new defense lawyer, I had clients who had sat through more trials then I had tried. The main lesson to remember with these types of clients is that you are the lawyer and you are in charge, not them. This is important, because often these clients will try bossing you around and try telling you how to do your job.
Client-type spotting is the same idea. A lawyer who can recognize his or her client as fitting into a certain type will be better prepared to deal with the client and to serve the client’s needs. The first type of client all lawyers need to be familiar with is the first-time client. This is the client who has either never used a lawyer, ...
A failure to elect automatically results in rejection of a trial in district court and an election to proceed to a hearing before an evidentiary panel.
If the grievance is determined to allege an ethical violation either by the staff or by BODA, it is classified as a Complaint and a copy is sent to the lawyer with a request for a response within 30 days. Some lawyers insist on filing their own response, although I continue to believe that the best practice is to be represented by counsel. Remember the value of what is at risk: your reputation and your right to practice law. You probably need counsel.
The complainant then has 30 days to appeal to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals (BODA). If BODA affirms the classification as an Inquiry, the complainant has a right to a one-time amendment to add information that might convert the Inquiry into a Complaint.
the evidentiary panel, consisting of multiple lawyers and usually one lay member, can themselves question witnesses which can result in either multiple prosecutors or multiple defense attorneys, depending on the case;
Most of the time, the panels follow the staff recommendation, but in some small percent of cases the panel disagrees and refuses to dismiss, either requesting more information before determination of just cause or, alternatively, finding there is just cause based upon the facts presented. In that event, the staff must now proceed to investigate and prosecute the case.
the evidentiary panel proceeding is confidential, and the panel can issue a private reprimand if appropriate.
In the legal field, however, one of the legal duties every lawyer must observe is to avoid conflicts of interest when it comes to their clients. In fact, if a lawyer represents a client knowing that there's a conflict of interest, they can be disciplined by the state bar and sued by the client for legal malpractice.
There are a variety of conflicts of interest that can prevent a lawyer from taking on a particular case. The conflict may occur between the prospective client and one of the attorney's current or former clients. There can also be concerns if a client's interests are in conflict with the lawyer's professional or personal relationships.
While an attorney may be able to easily identify a conflict, sometimes they're not always easy to spot. Because of this, it's the attorney's responsibility to perform regular conflict checks when taking on a new client.
An attorney can not only answer any questions you may have about the scope of an attorney's obligations to their client, they can also answer other questions you may have about the law.
It's also important to note that a law firm may be able to represent a client even though a single attorney had a conflict of interest, if a "firewall" can be successfully put around the attorney with the conflict. This essentially means that the matter would not be discussed with or around the attorney with the conflict, ...
It's also possible for there to be an issue if the potential client's interests are at odds with the attorney's own interests. A conflict of interest can also occur at the law firm level. For example, even if an attorney working at a law firm didn't personally work on a particular matter (because someone else at the firm handled it), ...
The lawyer believes they can provide " competent and diligent " representation to all affected clients; The representation isn't illegal in any way; The lawyer isn't representing two clients against each other in the same lawsuit; and. Each affected client provides informed consent in writing.