When you hire an attorney to handle your legal matters, you’re entrusting him with your most precious assets: your case. Despite the best of intentions, there are bound to be mistakes made along the way. It’s not always the fault of the attorney, and it’s not always something that can be undone. But when it does go wrong, you’ll need to know what to do.
Be Confident
One of the worst things you can do is let your guard down around your lawyer. It is incredibly unwise to think that your lawyer is actually going to fight for your best interests and not just for the interests of the firm. Keep your chin up and your eyes open, and don’t be afraid to speak up if you feel that your attorney is doing something wrong. You’re paying him to be your voice in court, so don’t be afraid to let him know what you think.
Another mistake that people make is blaming themselves for the mistake made by their attorney. While it’s true that you’re not always in the right, it’s also true that your lawyer is not always in the right. There are times when he is clearly not doing his job or worse, he’s doing it against your wishes. When that happens, it’s not your fault; you have to let him know what happened and why you’re not going to tolerate that kind of behavior. But, for the most part, you have to assume that your attorney is doing the best he can and find ways to be grateful for his efforts.
Exercise Patience
If you’ve been working with the lawyer for a while and things aren’t going according to plan, it might be a good idea to have a chat with him about where things stand. Chances are, he’s already got a feel for the case and can tell you what’s going on. If things still aren’t looking the way you’d hoped, it may be a good idea to switch attorneys. He might be able to renegotiate the terms of the contract or get you another judge hearing your case. Ultimately you’d like to see everything go smoothly and your case finished as quickly as possible, but that rarely happens. It’s a part of being a client and something you have to learn to live with.
Look Into What To Do Next
Once your case is settled, your lawyer will have a better idea of what’s next. You might want to have a chat with him about what you’d like to see done between now and then. Maybe you’d like to have follow-up calls to make sure everything is going according to plan or ask him to help you work through some of the challenges you’ve faced. Sometimes things just don’t go smoothly and part of being a client is learning to appreciate the little things.
In some instances, people think that their case is done and they can just walk away. But that’s rarely the case. Your attorney will most likely send you a bill for work done on the case, which you’ll have to pay. If you don’t have the money, you’ll have to ask your lawyer for an extension. But, in the meantime, your case is still active. And, in some instances, even years later, attorneys will come back and work on a case that was closed years ago. So, you have to be prepared to deal with the legal system from time to time.
Be Careful
Even when your attorney is doing everything right, you can still make a mistake and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. You have to be careful whose car you get into, who you talk to on the phone, and, especially, where you go based on the advice of an attorney. You don’t want to do or say the wrong thing and find yourself in a situation that you didn’t expect or didn’t want to be in. Ultimately, it’s your responsibility to know what’s going on and to be able to make the right decision. But that can be hard when you’re not trained to think like a lawyer. You’re trained to think like a person, which can sometimes lead you to make the wrong decision. So, be careful who you trust and what you say. Ultimately, only you know what’s going on with your case, and only you can decide what’s the right course of action. But it’s good to have someone by your side to help guide you through the complexities of the law.