Archive for ‘You and Your Lawyer’

Should Your Lawyer’s Website Tell the Whole Truth?

By htsyl, 30 December, 2011, No Comment

First, sorry to have been in hiding for months. Certainly doesn’t mean that the world of legal “unethics” has resolved itself; simply means I haven’t been sharing!

I went to the website of a lawyer that I met recently at a networking event. In the description of his background on the home page and on the “attorney” page, it says he “is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center” with a Master of Laws in Securities and Financial Regulation. Most of you probably recognize Georgetown University as having a top notch law school and reputation. I was actually sort of surprised, given other things I know about this lawyer, that he had gone to law school there. Well, it turns out he didn’t exactly get his law degree there – when I did a little more checking, turns out he got his J.D. (juris doctor/law degree) at a law school in Michigan that’s been around since 1972.

Seems misleading to me. Crime of omission? Puffing, as they say in the law? I don’t like it. Can’t say yet whether it’s technically an “ethical breach,” but it has that whole “walks like a duck” look to it.

I wouldn’t have been so nosy about the whole thing, but this particular lawyer went out of his way during a group presentation to say that if you do your estate planning (wills) using a website (like Legal Zoom, where I got my will) instead of hiring a lawyer (him) that it wouldn’t be “legal.” Again, very misleading. Actually, not true. So, I might have given him a break on the badly worded website if it hadn’t been for the misleading comment.

Moral of the story – same old, same old – Don’t check your common sense at the door. Trust your instincts. If it seems “fish” or “duck-like,” check it out. Just because it’s on the Internet, doesn’t make it true, or complete.

Signing out of 2011 – see you again in 2012.

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Lawyers and Clients and Social Media

By htsyl, 10 July, 2010, No Comment

I would actually like for my lawyer to have a general awareness and understanding of social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, to name a few). This would mean, hopefully, that they were not a total stick-in-the-mud and had some awareness of current events and technology.

That having been said, lawyers need to be very careful about using social media – and you could be the victim of their ethical breaches on the web. If a lawyer or law firm is using social media simply to promote their services in a general way, i.e., basically pointing the consumer to their website for more information, or providing links to articles that educate, that is okay. On the other hand, an individual attorney could certainly end up in social media quicksand by posting confidential information on what they think is a “personal” facebook or other social media account.

If you, the consumer, haven’t already figured out that the Internet in general, and social media sites in particular, are not confidential, you have some catching up to do. But, if your lawyer (in a professional or personal capacity) hasn’t figured that out… A lawyer’s activity on the Internet is governed by the Rules of Professional Conduct…they should not be making promises or guarantees, they should not be bragging about “wins” or griping about clients in any way that could breach confidentiality or other rules. Attorneys are also responsible for the content posted on law firm sites or social media pages by non-attorney staff in their offices.

And another very important point, and this is about YOU! Lawsuits and other legal matters are being won and lost with information about plaintiffs and defendants found on social media sites. THINK before you POST! Your social media life is an open book, and if you are ever involved in litigation, that book will be read. The printed word will draw a picture of you in a court of law that words cannot erase. If you are having any trouble imagining what this could mean, here’s an example. You are separated from your spouse and involved in a divorce, including a fight about the custody of your children. It’s a stressful time in your life, you go out with friends, you party, you drink, you drive, you report your whereabouts and activities to your “friends” on Facebook or Twitter. You claim the life of a monk in court and next thing you know, your social media posts are blown up on a poster at a court hearing! It’s not just between friends, it’s EVIDENCE. Ditto for a worker’s compensation claim, personal injury suit, etc.

If you wouldn’t want to see it on a poster in a courtroom, don’t post it! Simple. Period.

It works both ways — if you have doubts about your lawyer, or you are looking for a new lawyer — check them out on social media.

That’s it for now – don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @htsyl.

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Top 10 Things That Annoy Clients

By htsyl, 1 June, 2010, 2 Comments

In a book written by two law management experts - The Busy Lawyer’s Guide to Success* - they identify (for other lawyers) the things that annoy clients the most:

  1. Not returning phone calls or replying to emails
  2. Making clients wait in reception
  3. Ignoring client-staff incivility
  4. Dropping names to impress others
  5. Not clarifying for the client
  6. Not delivering on promises of performance
  7. Not delivering on a promised outcome
  8. Not communicating during long periods of inactivity
  9. Failing to be prepared
  10. Sending a very large bill without warning or preparation

The article that I got this info from, published by the American Bar Association, actually had a headline about ELEVEN things that annoy clients the most. Turns out there were only 10 things listed in the article. Perhaps Number Eleven should be “failing to proofread your work and sending out documents with errors.”

When I look at this list, I see lots of discussion topics. The two that jump out the most to me, however, are #6 and #7…because they both contain the word “promise.” Be wary of promises of results or outcomes by your attorney. If they promise to write a letter or make a phone call and don’t do it, that’s a problem, too. But they should NOT be promising that they will win in court or recover boat loads of money for you. Obviously, it is important that you have confidence in your legal representation, and lawyers need to say things to inspire confidence, but there is a line that they should not cross when it comes to promises or guarantees.

If someone tells you something that sounds to good to be true…

* I’m not endorsing this book, but it seemed like the right thing to do to provide a link to their site if I was going to quote their work, and they do have some good info to share with attorneys. Anything that will make the system work better can’t hurt.

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