Don't Take Their Guff: Sever ties with abusive clients before they ruin your practive or yourlifeAuthor(s): JILL SCHACHNER CHANENSource: ABA Journal, Vol. 85, No. 11 (NOVEMBER 1999), pp. 94-95Published by: American Bar AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27841287 .

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HHHH SOLO NETWORK

Don't Take Their Guff Sever ties with abusive clients before they ruin your practice or your life BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN

Carolyn Stevens knew it was time to dump her client when she asked Stevens to preserve soiled

diapers for evidence in her child visitation case.

The mother wanted to termi nate the father's visitation rights be cause he had poor parenting skills. She said the father had been using diapers that were too small for the child, and that was all the proof she needed of his incompetence.

Stevens thought otherwise. "I

suggested that she simply tell the father to buy bigger diapers," recalls the solo family law practitioner in

Missoula, Mont. "She flipped on me, accused me of siding with the child's father, and then threatened to sue me and report me to the discipli nary agency."

It was time, Stevens wisely de cided, to terminate her representa tion. "If they can turn on me that quickly, I am always concerned they will do it again. Especially if the judge gives us an adverse ruling," she says.

Just about every solo has had them: Clients who won't take direc tion, who won't respond, who won't pay, who abuse the staff and the lawyer. Their behavior can be so

aggravating that many lawyers be gin to wonder whether the client is worth the fee. But instead of get ting rid of them, small-firm practi tioners tend to put up with them.

Jay Foonberg, a Beverly Hills,

Calif., lawyer who wrote How to Start and Build a Law Practice, says such practitioners often put up with bad client behavior because they do not want to admit failure. He adds that some lawyers are so hungry for a fee that they are willing to endure intolerable behavior. Some also fear that terminating a bad client rela

tionship will result in a malpractice claim or a disciplinary action.

But hunger or fear should not paralyze solo and small-firm practi tioners, Foonberg says. Bad clients can damage a law- Be

yer's practice, staff, HhK?I?^I finances and person- Bt^^fBBH al life. ?? Like Stevens, flHR^^Rvn Foonberg advocates H^^?j?gj?f terminating deterio- H^^^^^l rating client rela- ^ tionships before they HBB|HM become professional- ffl^HSw ly or personally de- |1b^B*V structive. "You can

IHHH^H lose about 90 percent IH^^^^I of your aggravation i^^^^^^H by losing 5 percent of ̂ ^^^^^H your fees," he says. ^^Hi^H How a lawyer IR^Iflll terminates a client jaSH^^s relationship is im-

^^^hHM portant, Foonberg .^HHHEg/ cautions. Soured /^Hfl^HHS attorney-client ^^^^HhHH relationships /^^^^HBh^I are a leading J^^^^^HBhh cause of mer- J^^^^^^HH

suits and disciplinary complaints. "Firing a client is always awk

ward. It's like firing anyone else or

breaking up with someone," says Mary L.C. Daniel, a solo practition er in Winchester, Va.

Daniel says she writes the cli ent a short letter that clearly states she is ending representation. In cer tain cases she explains why. One time, she told a client she could no

longer represent him because she knew he had perjured himself in a

deposition. Other times she will offer

|^^^^ CAROLYN STEVENS will send ^^^^^A clients packing rather than

tolerate their bad behavior.

online on this month's Solo Network topic. Excerpts from

on the Internet at wvvw.abanet.org/s?(o/h?m?.htmi,

On clients from hell

Vicki Levy (vklevy? orlandoli ve. net), Orlando, Fla.

I fired a client because, after holding a check for the requested three weeks, the check bounced. I wrote to the client, requesting he honor the check within the next few days or I would file motion to with draw on his case. He didn't show up; I filed motion. When he received no

tice of the withdrawal, he started protesting vehemently. I documented the file heavily, mailed personal pa pers back to him, and my fingers are still crossed that I won't hear from him further.

P.S. His wife has called several times begging me to take the case

again and claiming that the family has left numerous messages before and after the withdrawal that I failed to return. Sigh.

Mary L.C. Daniel (mdaniel? visuallink, com), Winchester, Va.

I have fired at least one client based solely on the way he spoke to my secretary, cursing and hangihg up on her. I told him, "I can always get another paying client. My secre

tary, however, is irreplaceable." I have lots of clients who show up once in a while, and one secretary who's here all day with me. Yes, I

play favorites!

94 ABA JOURNAL / NOVEMBER 1999 abaj/kurt wilson

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Trouble Ahead It's always easier not to take on a

problem client than to fire one. So how do you know which clients are going to be trouble before you agree to represent them? Here are some warning signs:

They call you numerous times before you agree to represent them.

They call you their savior. They don't want to give you a

retainer.

You are their third or fourth attorney.

They take copious notes or tape record you during an initial

meeting. They miss their first

appointment with you.

a generic explanation, especially if feelings are already inflamed.

Foonberg takes responsibility for the relationship, telling undesira ble clients he isn't the right lawyer for them. "Do it in a nice way/' he says. "Tell them perhaps you can help on another matter in the future."

Keep Yourself Out of the Doghouse By keeping relations with the

ex-client friendly, there is less of a chance of a possible suit or discipli nary claim, says solo Bruce Dorner of Londonderry, N.H., chair of the aba Law Practice Management Sec tion's Solo and Small Firm Division.

"Fm known as a great negotia tor," he says. "I can settle most cases. Occasionally, I have clients who start off talking nice, then get into an obnoxious litigation mode. They want to fight for the sake of the fight.... I tell them honestly that Fm not the best guy for that ap proach and suggest they might be better served by another attorney whom Fm pleased to recommend."

Cooperation also may help re duce antagonistic feelings or suspi cions lingering in the client's mind, Foonberg adds.

Dorner suggests getting a re ceipt from clients when they have taken possession of their files and other personal items. And, he says, send a polite letter confirming that.

In some cases, lawyers may even want to consider refunding cli ents' fees, especially when little time has been invested, Dorner suggests.

Doing so can be a lawyer's sweetest reward. Says Foonberg: "I say to myself, 'This is the client from hell. I don't need the money.'

" Then

he happily puts a check in the mail. And breathes a sigh of relief.

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