Your Attorney’s Biggest Frustrations

Okay, so these may not necessarily reflect your attorney’s biggest frustrations, but they represent mine. While we are sympathetic, there are some clients or some prospects that we are unable to help, because:

Unrealistic Expectations:

These are the clients that believe that the practice of law is like an episode of “Law & Order.” In other words, the prospects who see you in the morning and think we’ll be in front of the judge by the afternoon. Unfortunately, lawsuits take substantially more time to resolve. Similarly, I’m unable to get anyone a free house (or I would have done so for myself). The bank does not want your house, they want your money. Sometimes a short-term plan to be in the house is not supported by loan modification, especially when the house is still under-water after the loan modification is completed. Finally, if there is clear and overwhelming case law against your position, and no cases or statutes in favor of your position, let’s find another solution.

My advice to these clients is to stop believing everything you read on the Internet or see on TV (and yes, I understand the irony that you’re reading this on my website right now). Also, nothing the banks do makes common sense, so stop trying to think about your situation from a common sense perspective.

Lack of a Clear Plan

These people are the “paralysis by analysis” clients who cannot make a decision because they’re trying to understand every eventuality, every outcome, every counter by the opposing party, and every possible angle. Each client’s case is fact-specific and while we may be able to say “XYZ outcome happened with this previous client so it is likely to happen for you too” that is no guarantee as the two clients, while having similar issues, will be dealing with different circumstances.

My advice to these clients is to: (1) trust the attorney you’ve hired to do his or her job, and (2) keep it simple. Most times, the most simple plan or overall desired outcome is the way to go.

Over-Communication

Again, unlike television, where most legal shows have an attorney who works on one or two cases the entire episode, we have hundreds of clients with active cases. While we can manage all of those cases simultaneously, flooding our email inbox and voicemail simply slows down our ability to focus on any of our clients. I would never suggest that an attorney is any more or less busy than any other person. At the same time, when I can slash my pending emails by more than half simply by completing 1 client project, that shows that the client is “over-communicative.”

One solution is to unsubscribe from the “squeaky wheel gets the grease” theory. Certainly follow up and keep your attorney on task, but daily or hourly email or voicemail follow up is going to slow down the entire office, may prove costly to those clients paying hourly rates, and is likely going to create a situation where the attorney wants to withdraw from representing the client.

For more information on bankruptcy, foreclosures, loan modifications, short sales, and a variety of other topics, please subscribe to the Yesner Law Podcast, on iTunes and Stitcher. If you prefer, please contact us to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your options at 727-261-0224 or email me directly at shawn@yesnerlaw.com.

Shawn M. Yesner, Esq., is the founder of Yesner Law, P.L., a Tampa-based boutique real estate and consumer law firm that helps clients eliminate debt by providing options, so they can live the lifestyle of their dreams. We assist clients with asset protection, the sale and purchase of real property, Chapter 7 liquidation, Chapter 13 reorganization, bankruptcy, foreclosure defense, debt settlement, landlord/tenant issues, short sales, and loan modifications in Tampa, Westchase, Odessa, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor, Clearwater, Pinellas Park, Largo, St. Petersburg, and throughout the greater Tampa Bay area.