I have had the opportunity to try two cases this year in our inaugural year of operation. Both of them were very fulfilling experiences despite being relatively small matters. Each reminded me of several very important things and why I became a lawyer.
The first was a construction lien foreclosure for a small construction company that not only wasn’t paid for its work, but was also forced to defend litigation brought by the customer. The customer got exactly what she contracted for, but when her insurance company wouldn’t pay for upgrades and change orders, she decided to stop paying my client. I represented my client at no charge because I have another matter for them involving a catastrophic injury that has been life-altering for the construction company owner and his family. The money at stake in the foreclosure was not “big potatoes” compared to the cases I typically handle, but it was quite literally meat and potatoes on the table for a family in desperate need who was running out of money due to the husband’s injury and inability to work.
The reminder is that no matter how long you do this or how many cases you have, this is the client’s case—often their only case when you have a docket of many. It is big potatoes to them. We can’t forget that and we can’t overlook the small cases or fail to prioritize them. When we take on a client, our job is to represent them zealously. If we take on the case, we are to give them that zealous representation irrespective of whether it is a big money-making case for us.
We had a successful result for the construction client. At the end of the customer’s presentation of her claim, I moved for a directed verdict, because we were able to keep out the customer’s experts and her theory of damages collapsed on itself for that and other reasons. When the directed verdict was entered by the court, the customer was willing to pay my client’s bill in full with interest.
The construction case was not only a different case for me from a size and complexity perspective, it also involved a completely new area of law that I had to learn from the ground up. It was a fun new challenge, but I highly doubt I will revisit this area of the law. But trying this case was the most fun I’ve had in my work for a long time because the reason I became a lawyer—to help someone in desperate need of legal help—was at my doorstep. It was a very modest result in the line-up of my cases, but it made a big difference to my client who needed a good result from both an emotional and financial perspective. They had faith in the legal system which I was proud to be a part of.
The second case was another relatively small case involving a car accident for a former client. He had $3,600 of monetary damages and the claims adjuster’s final offer was $20,000. I told the client that I valued the case above this amount but not nearly as high as he hoped to get. It was a big deal to him. Even though he had few medical bills, he was in significant pain that could not be treated. He was no longer able to do the things on his retirement bucket list like play golf, play with his grandkids, or even sleep well. He wasn’t in desperate need of money like my construction client, but he was in constant pain and forced to sacrifice his planned retirement that he had worked toward for 50 years. I explained to him the risks of going to trial, including the possibility that a conservative, small-town Nebraska jury could give him less than the insurance company’s offer. He understood and said he could not accept their offer. I told him that if he wanted to go to trial, I would try the case. That is what I signed on for.
I know lawyers who fancy themselves “trial lawyers” who would have fired this client when they couldn’t get him to take the $20,000. That is not our job. Our job is to give the client our best advice in our zealous representation of them. Then they get to make the decisions within the bounds of the law and our ethics. There are lawyers who would say that spending two days in a jury trial on a case like this is not their “highest and best use,” but they have lost perspective. To the client, at that moment, the one we signed up to represent, that was indeed my highest and best use. It is the use I signed up for. My fee agreement with the client doesn’t say I can bow out if I I’m forced to work for the fee rather than reach an easy settlement before trial. I thought to myself, I am a trial lawyer, Let’s Go!
So we tried the case. The defense did a great job. If I was on the jury, I probably would have returned the verdict he suggested. I asked the jury to be reasonable but didn’t suggest what that was. Fortunately, they did what I thought was reasonable. We were successful. While it wasn’t nearly enough in my client’s eyes, that is because this was a big deal to him. We put on the best case we could and the jury gave him substantially more than the insurance company’s last offer. It was not a huge dollar win. It was a huge win because we engaged in the system and it worked. I got to do what I love in trying a case before a jury. I put my money where my mouth is and zealously represented the client and didn’t bail on him. I didn’t let my ego or my own idea of self-worth get in the way because I realized my skills were best used those two days for this client who I agreed to see it through with.
At the end of the day, I know I am a trial lawyer. I got to do what I love, engaging in a system I (generally) think works as it should, with wins, losses and everything in between. For all lawyers, it is good to touch some grass now and again and realize what we agreed to do when we took our oath. If you fancy yourself a trial lawyer, be willing to prove your worth to any client you agree to take on no matter the money involved. Jury trials are hard to come by and if you truly want to be called a trial lawyer, prove it. Get some street cred with adjusters and when you or your client says the offer is just too low, take the chance to prove it. Next time, they will remember you as a trial lawyer who is willing to go the distance.