In 2006, I got sued by a big, big company that shall remain nameless.  It was a fairly traumatic experience: I had not done anything wrong yet they came at me with so much firepower that I thought the world would cave in on me.

Against all odds, I managed to win.  The best thing about the process was understanding how the legal system works.  One of the main things about the legal system is lawyers, obviously.  Lawyers get a bad rep, sometimes unfairly.  At heart: their clients are at fault for being, well, stupid.  Alas, one reason lawyers get knocked is due to their fees.  Sometimes fees are high for a reason, but sometimes, you get billed for nothing.  This case deals with the latter.

During my ordeal, the entire thing was broken up into numerous parts.

- The first part was the legal intimidation: lawyer letters drafted on thick, expensive paper, in legalese, threatening countless actions for things you may or may not have done, thinking of doing, or being watched as you do it.

- The second part was the legal tussle, from being served with papers, to the preparation as well as the protracted showdown in the courts.  Bear in mind, I actually represented myself in my battle.  Frankly, that was insane when I look back at it all now.

- The third part was the settlement, for which I finally got a lawyer.  Hey, it was crazy to rep myself, but to think I could settle the victory without a lawyer would have been foolish.  Mind you, I don’t think you should rep yourself.  I personally actually knew I would win and told my counterpart - the President of the Bar Association - that I would win no matter how much he tried to phase me out and intimidate me… which was really crazy in hindsight.  I respect lawyers considerably but I think that unlike, say for example doctors, anyone can “play” lawyer for a day (by studying the procedural stuff) and beat a lawyer in the substantive details.

Anyway, the point is, at all phases, I interacted with lawyers. Some lawyers were neutral, a handful were against me, and a few were my allies.

When it came to preparing, I spoke to various lawyers and paid a couple for counsel (which amounted to a tiny, tiny sum compared to the $100,000 to $250,000 everyone told me I’d need to mount a formal defense if I hired one to actually rep me).

One thing I had to master was walking the fine line between talking to a lawyer pro bono and them billing you.

To this day, I’ve realized that some lawyers randomly send you bills even when you are trying to assess their acumen in a field in order to give them your business.  For example, one of the two lawyers I spoke to during the preparation stage has absolutely no knowledge of what I needed help with.

Lawyers think that they can get away with a lot because they know their clients are usually in a corner with their backs to the wall.

Over time, I’ve become rather impatient when a lawyer tries to bill me unfairly.

There’s a very good chance you will one day go through your mail and get a bill for something that you did not actually expect or ask for.  Use your judgment as to whether you should pay it or not, but it you sincerely think the invoice is uncalled for, you can use the following response, pro bono.

Just bear in mind:

- If you actually agreed to pay a lawyer for something and then decide to back out of it, that is something else.  a lawyer can and will pursue you if you decide to not pay legitimate bills.  The following really applies to random legal bills for initial talks or meetings to gauge their area of expertise.

- You should also not take advantage of this, after all, the last thing you want is to have no lawyers wanting to represent you (oh wait, that won’t happen with lawyers).

=

Dear [],

As a matter of business policy, the company does not make payments for professional services unless we have given an actual mandate to a legal or accounting law firm.

As a professional, I meet countless would-be clients to earn the privilege of winning their business, I don’t invoice them for that meeting, even if they ask to meet me.

We work with a handful of lawyers and law firms, when I meet new lawyers, it is to ascertain whether we will be enlisting their services in the future.  I do not expect to be billed for that discussion.

As such, we won’t be paying the invoice ref. # [].

Thanks for understanding.

I’ll follow up if and when the time comes to doing the [whatever service you were inquiring about], at which time we can discuss a formal mandate.

=

Don’t be a doormat.  Just because people ask for things and push you around doesn’t mean that you should let them get away with it.

• Digg this Blog
• Share on Facebook
• WatchMojo on Twitter
• WatchMojo on YouTube
• Add to Favorites
• WatchMojo Newsletter