I’ve had this article in mind for quite some time. I see attorneys make the same mistakes over and over, and I thought by posting an article listing those mistakes, I would have a place to send them to explain, in the nicest possible terms, that they are making themselves look like idiots. The article…
Category: Rules for the Practice of Law
Don’t Be That Attorney — Save the Drama for Your Mama
I have spoken here before about the folly of posturing, but an incident today made me return to the keyboard. Many attorneys must think that posturing accomplishes something, because so many engage in the practice, but it is my position that it usually works to the detriment of their clients. Opposing counsel will know the…
Why You Should Be Using Evernote
I’ve said it before here. After deciding not to write about a program like Evernote because I assume everyone is using it, I run across an attorney who says, “Evernote? What is that?” If you use a computer and any smartphone or tablet, then Evernote should be at the heart of your organizational life. I…
Stop Attaching Documents to Your Complaint
The planets must be aligned or misaligned as the case may be, because I’ve been flooded with callers who are dissatisfied with their current attorneys, and want to fire them to hire me. I get a lot of these calls, and reviewing the cases to decide if I want them gives me great insight into…
Don’t be That Attorney – If You Must Rant, At Least be Right
I’m at the drive through teller at my bank yesterday, to cash a small check. I sign the back of the check and send it up the tube with my driver’s license and ATM card, a process I have followed dozens of times. But this teller is clueless. He asks if I have an account…
Think Before You Demand — Miguel Mendoza v. Reed K. Hamzeh
If the threat of getting in trouble with the State Bar is not enough, maybe the threat of both civil and criminal actions will get attorneys to toe the line. You know that it is an ethical violation for an attorney to threaten criminal action as a means to extract a civil settlement. For…
Something to Consider When Advising Your Clients About Litigation or Appeal
Too many attorneys defend cases that have no defense. Over the years I have been sorely disappointed to learn that many attorneys don’t see a problem with that, and have no clue that it is not permitted. In California, for example, the Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit accepting employment by a client if the objective…
Sleazy Attorney Technique No. 3: “Discovery? What discovery?”
I have a brilliant method to beat this sleazy attorney technique, if I do say so myself, and I have not seen one other attorney who uses this reminder approach. First, here is how it all comes about. I serve discovery, wait 40 days for the responses, nothing comes, I write a letter to opposing…
Look at Your Potential Client’s Email Address Before You Respond
It was one of those “oh my God” moments where I realized I had just dodged a bullet. It involved a client’s email. A potential client had sent an email asking about a wrongful termination matter. We reject about 100 wrongful termination cases for every one we take, but this sounded like it might be…
Saying Your Letter Cannot be Published Does Not Make it True
In a prior posting, I discussed how ineffectual cease and desist letters are, and how some recipients of such letters will even post them as a sort of badge of honor. In an apparent attempt by some attorneys to keep from having their letters published, I have now seen a number of instances where the…