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TagsBY WARREN BOROSON
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
BOROSON ON MONEY
Irwin Edman, a philosophy professor at Columbia, once told his class that there are two types of people in the world: those who divide the world into two types and those who don’t.
I myself divide the world into two chief types: people with lawyers and people without lawyers.
Having a good lawyer on call is a really good idea in today’s world. I mean, if your neighbor makes too much noise at night, or a merchant refuses to take back your non-working big-ticket item, or someone has been spreading rumors that you are in the FBI’s witness-protection program, a tough letter from a lawyer can work wonders. I had a lawyer write a letter to someone who was annoying me, and he began it this way: “I am going to sue you unless …” Very effective. (A lawyer comments: “But sometimes all it does is heighten the antagonism …and the legal fees!”)
I was thinking of this the other day when I learned that a young friend of mine was unhappy about paying a $300 hospital bill. He had already paid a few hundred to physicians relating to the same incident.
Seems that he was eating out — and swallowed a bay leaf, which had been left inside a burrito. He was in such pain, he had to be taken to a hospital, where he was anesthetized and the bay leaf removed from his throat. He’s still paying the bills.
Yes, HE’S paying the bills! Not the damn restaurant! He never even contacted the restaurant about the matter. For all he knows, the restaurant is still slipping bay leaves into innocent people’s gullets. And he never even contacted a lawyer!
A lawyer, if he or she was any good, would have contacted the restaurant and demanded that it pay all the young man’s medical bills. And maybe suggested that the restaurant shell out something for the young man’s pain and suffering, too — based on what such cases have been fetching in recent years. I would guess: $50,000 at least. The restaurant no doubt has insurance to cover such contingencies. Of course, if the restaurant proved recalcitrant, the lawyer could actually have filed suit.
But no, the young man did nothing. He didn’t even have a lawyer.
Unless you have a regular lawyer, in a crisis you may have to go looking. And you may wind up with a lousy lawyer, someone who will gouge you over fees, someone eager to take on any new client because he or she has, justifiably, few other clients.
Ask friends and other professionals (financial planner, accountant, real estate agent) for names; call your local bar assocation, law school. Interview anyone well recommended who sounds capable, and perhaps have him or her check over your will or update your existing one — just to try him or her out.
Make sure that you hire a lawyer who specializes in what you need. Some real-estate lawyers (say) will happily try to handle (say) estate planning, divorces, or whatever; other lawyers may claim to be investment authorities. In this case, the young man should have asked his own lawyer to recommend a personal-injury lawyer.
Some other advice about hiring a lawyer:
• Ask up front what he or she charges — and what his or her assistants charge.
• In general, avoid solo practitioners. Their ethical standards tend to be lower than those of lawyers in partnerships. (Comments the lawyer: “Many solos specialize in fairly narrow fields and opt to be independent.”)
• Complain if your lawyer doesn’t return your phone calls promptly, or in general doesn’t keep you informed. (Lawyer: “But be reasonable. If you lawyer-hop, no good lawyer will take you on as a client.”)
Finally, as I’ve written before, if you want me to mail you the names of all the upstanding lawyers in New Jersey, send me a stamped, self-addressed post card.
To receive Warren Boroson’s column regularly, drop him a note at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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While there are bad apples in any bunch, to classify an entire segment of a profession as ethically challenged is irresponsible. Rural areas are dominated by solo practitioners. Is this to say that no one in a rural area can obtain ethical legal representation? Furthermore, take a look at a billing statement from a "biglaw" firm. How many hands touch the file? Are bills padded so that associates can meet unreasonable billing requirements?
I am a solo practitioner with a niche practice area. The majority of my clients are referred by general practitioners who know when it's time to refer. That's fine by me (and them too). I won't handle a divorce, draft a will or perform a title search. However, when someone needs what I have to offer, I am here. I do what I do best, and will then refer them back to their general practice attorney for any other needs they may have.
I hope a client only needs me once in their life. My goal is not to keep them on my gravy train so that I have a steady income stream coming in at their expense.
Paralells can be seen in the medical field. I will see my family doctor for most things that ale me. However, I would be very skeptical if my family doctor recommended that he do neurosurgery. Most people should have a regular family doctor. That doesn't mean a specialist has lower ethical standards, just because they opted to hone their skills in a specific area.