Rule 1: The client is always right.
Rule 2: If the client is wrong, refer to rule 1.
Now I know, that may sound a little facetious. But let’s get back to basics – lawyers don’t have clients, clients have lawyers. You are hers, she’s not yours.
So as a lawyer, if the client is doing stuff – or saying stuff, or demanding stuff – that you can’t as an ethical lawyer give, guess what?
You are not her lawyer any more.
The most important word in a lawyer’s vocabulary? “No.”
I’m not recommending that you quit when a client needs you just because she’s difficult – only if she’s impossible. And impossible really includes asking you to do something that means you won’t go to heaven or will lose your law license or just will have trouble falling asleep at night.
So here’s my message: There are lots of clients, and lots of lawyers for them. If the current client isn’t a good fit, sweetly, politely, fairly and honestly usher them out the door. But quickly, firmly and certainly.
Life’s too short.