I would imagine that as an attorney, it is important to recognize that dealing with difficult clients is an inevitable part of legal practice. In Chapter 8 of his book, How to Start a Law Practice, Alexander Y. Benikov provides what I thought were candid insights into managing such clients. Benikov’s experiences highlight that some clients will never be satisfied, regardless of the attorney’s efforts. Understanding this early can help new attorneys maintain their composure and professionalism when faced with these challenging situations.
Benikov recounts the story of a client convicted of pointing a gun at a child. Despite overwhelming evidence and credible witnesses, the client blamed Benikov for the guilty verdict. This anecdote underscores a critical point: difficult clients often refuse to accept responsibility for their actions, preferring instead to blame their attorney. Recognizing this behavior is vital for attorneys to avoid undue frustration and to focus on providing the best defense possible within the constraints of the evidence.
Another striking example involves an elderly client who threatened to kill employees at a food stamp office. Despite video evidence, the client insisted on his innocence. Benikov’s ability to negotiate a plea deal that avoided jail time, while maintaining professionalism, exemplifies the balance attorneys must strike between advocacy and managing client expectations. It’s crucial to remain calm, even when clients are unreasonable or aggressive.
Benikov’s final example features a client who, while intoxicated, crashed into a parked police car. The client initially claimed racial bias as the reason for his prosecution. This case illustrates the importance of clear, factual communication with clients. Benikov’s patience and professionalism helped the client understand the legal realities he faced, leading to a more favorable outcome.
Overall, it seemed Benikov was of the mind that dealing with difficult clients will require patience, professionalism, and the ability to manage unrealistic expectations. I can’t say I’m excited to have to deal with client’s like these in a hypothetical future as an attorney, but as Benikov points out, by reading yourself for these inevitable meetings, one can better prepare themselves to handle these situations with the necessary poise and resilience.
I have a friend who is also a family law attorney. He always jokes that the practice of law is a great career - except for the clients. Carefully selecting clients can help eliminate these problems. In the beginning that is hard because you need to bring bodies through the door to stay afloat. But you will soon learn that it is better to avoid a problem client no matter how much you need the money when that client consults with you.
ReplyDeleteWe had a guest speaker for a criminal law weekend course who at one point did legal defense work for Jeffrey Epstein. Perhaps a client most other lawyers would not have defended. When I asked him how he managed to deal with his personal reactions to the things Epstein was charged with, he made several statements implying that he did not believe that Epstein had not actually done many of those things. He also spoke of the reactions of other people to the fact that he doing this work, including family members who reviled him for it. He also mentioned that his firm was charging Epstein so much for the legal work that the guest speaker did not know if he could afford himself if he needed a criminal defense lawyer.
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