My friend Robert at MiddleZoneMusings has a monthly topic which he invites a few of us to write about.  This month was…”what I learned about the law….”

I have some tidbits…what did you expect?

1.  You get what you pay for.  The taller the building, the more expensive the lawyer.  Sure, you can get by with a suburban lawyer for the odd thing, but something big, pay for it.

2.  A great litigator is someone to know.  Some corporate attorneys are great around the conference table, but suck in court.  Find someone who wins.

3.  How to tell if you have a good one.  I like the attorney on my case to be as passionate about it as me.  I want him to win, not settle.  I really like the guys who are a bit ‘out of control.’  You have seen those guys?  Junkyard dog comes to mind as the best way to describe this attorney.  If you have a case to win where you were especially wronged…find a guy who wants get ALL their money, and rip their kids’ arms off too.

4.  The right question to ask your prospective attorney:  What is your record?  This might sound a bit demeaning, but screw that…you are paying for results.  I asked one of our patent litigators that once, what was his record?  He said, very calmly, “I have never lost.”  That might have been BS, I never really checked, but he demolished the other side so badly in court, in front of the judge and jury, I actually felt sorry for the scumbag.  It was like watching Sandy Koufax pitch.

5.  For everything that involves money, and especially taking someone else’s money for your new business as an investment, hire an attorney who has done this before.  It will save you later.

6. Lastly, if you have a legal issue in Louisiana, go ahead and bend over.  They have their own legal system down there.

For what the other participants wrote, go to the next page…

What I Learned from…

… the Law, by ettarose at edgeofsanity.com
… the Law, by Sarah Stewart at Sarah’s Musings
… the law: insure to be sure, by Karin H. at Start/Stop
… the Law, by Sam Brogher at Your Scared Seductive System
… Testifying in Court, by Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc.
… Bureaucracy, by Ellen Weber at Brain Based Business
… 10 Things I Learned from Law and Order, by Jackie Cameron at JackieCameron.com
… Not Writing About What I Learned From the Law, by Joanna Young at Confident Writing
… the Law, by Karen Hanrahan at Best of Mother Earth
… What the Law Taught Me About Stress Management, by Jean Browman at Transforming Stress Into Personal Power
… Personal Injury Attorneys, by Debbie Yost at Three Weddings
… the Law of the Playground, by Amy Palko at [tag]Lives Less Ordinary[tag]
… the Law, by Lillie Ammann at A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye
… the Law as Applied to Writing, by Jeanne Dininni at [tag]Writers Notes[/tag[

And last, but hopefully not least,

…Chaos, by Robert Hruzek,l himself

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,