A Lesson in Legal Economics !
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Here's a funny story that I have taken from the internet ............
A prominent lawyer's son dreamed of following in his father's footsteps. After graduating from college and law school with honors, he returned home to join his father's firm, intent on proving himself to be a skilled and worthy attorney.
At the end of his first day at work he rushed into his father's office, and said, "Father, father! The Smith case, that you always said would go on forever -- the one you have been toiling on for ten years -- in one single day, I settled that case and saved the client a fortune!"
His father frowned, and scolded his son, "I did not say that it would go on forever, son. I said that it could go on forever. When you saw me toiling on that case for days and weeks at a time, didn't it ever occur to you that I was billing by the hour?"
Now the moral of this story is clearly that lawyers have made lots of money in the past by their 'traditional' billing-by-the-hour techniques, often at absurd levels per hour. Does anyone agree that this system needs to be radically changed and indeed a lot more transparent? I consulted a specialist 'family lawyer' around the year 2000 for specific advice and at that time he told me he would be charging £120/hour and that I would need to refinance my home to pay him. His initial consultation included an in depth examination of my ability to pay and his conclusion was that it could only be paid from raising capital on my home. After three hours work, my bill had risen to £380 and at that time I cancelled my instruction on the basis that this could actually bankrupt me, not to mention the total lack of confidence that I had in the man at the time.
So is it time to bring a more transparent and cost effective way to access legal help in the future? After all, most lawyers admit that everything they learned in University had been forgotten and all future arguments tend to be prepared on opinion, conjecture and simply that they go on headed notepaper!
Thoughts and experiences please ....
Responses (2)
Lawyers are pondlife just like politicians and bankers.
We used to deal with many of them in the Police force and they were all just interested in the moolah and not helping any of innocent victims or wrongly arrested.
The first question is always about their rates per hour!
It seems there is not limit to greed in our society now.
It seems much like a race - so much poverty now it is making people race to attain enough money to avoid falling into the poverty trap but how much is enough?
Loved those, Snoops!
I've had dealings with lawyers four times in my life, and every time I was convinced that I was being totally ripped off. Their charges are extortionate! And they seem to always find a way to complicate things so that they can charge more for longer! I once asked one if she could please not staple her letters to me as I was sure she was charging extra for the staple!
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It will never be enough, OD. People without principles will always grasp more money from the vulnerable who can't afford it.
Thank you OD ... it's good when people say it as it is! It is so sad when lawyers can charge such massive and unfair rates simply because they may know 'a little bit more' than us. Tradition, pomp and circumstance has a lot to answer for!
Apologies... just had to add this joke in ...
Lawyer: "Judge, I wish to appeal my client's case on the basis of newly discovered evidence."
Judge: "And what is the nature of the new evidence?"
Lawyer: "Judge, I discovered that my client still has £500 left ....
Ha ha not heard that one before not bad snoop you made me laugh heartily and that hasnt happened a lot this week.