Share This Article:
"Clients are just like children."
I thought of attempting to narrow the scope of his bombast with perhaps "you mean your clients are like that," or "a client is like that," but I demurred. Experience has taught the best response to Horace is simply some encouraging entrez vous. An invitation for Horace to ascend his proverbial soap box and wax, as it were, eloquently (whether there is eloquence or not). With or without the eloquence, there will be "forceful." A mutual acquaintance once referenced Horace as the best example ever of the old Ivy Baker Priest quote "I'm often wrong, but never in doubt."
That a client takes a tack the lawyer would not does not make the client's wrong, merely different. That a client does not agree with a counselor does not make her/him petulant or recalcitrant, merely different. And, perhaps Horace tends to only remember those times he was ultimately proven correct and he forgets those times when such a client decision was seen in retrospect as being quite effective?
As an adviser, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client’s legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications.
As an advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system.
As a negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest dealing with others.
As an evaluator, a lawyer acts by examining a client’s legal affairs and reporting about them to the client or to others.
"a lawyer must abide by a client’s decisions concerning the objectives of representation, and, as required by rule 4-1.4, must reasonably consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued."
"A lawyer’s representation of a client, including representation by appointment, does not constitute an endorsement of the client’s political, economic, social, or moral views or activities."
AI california case management case management focus claims cms compensability compliance courts covid do you know the rule exclusive remedy florida FMLA glossary check health care Healthcare iowa leadership maryland medical medicare minnesota NCCI new jersey new york ohio osha pennsylvania Safety state info technology tennessee texas violence virginia WDYT west virginia what do you think women's history month workers' comp 101 workers' recovery workers' compensation contact information Workplace Safety Workplace Violence
Read Also
About The Author
About The Author
-
Judge David Langham
David Langham is the Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims at the Division of Administrative Hearings. He has been involved in workers’ compensation for over 25 years as an attorney, an adjudicator, and administrator. He has delivered hundreds of professional lectures, published numerous articles on workers’ compensation in a variety of publications, and is a frequent blogger on Florida Workers’ Compensation Adjudication. David is a founding director of the National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary and the Professional Mediation Institute, and is involved in the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA) and the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC). He is a vocal advocate of leveraging technology and modernizing the dispute resolution processes of workers’ compensation.
More by This Author
- Jun 05, 2023
- Judge David Langham
- May 20, 2023
- Judge David Langham
Read More
- May 15, 2024
- James Moore
- May 07, 2024
- NCCI
- May 06, 2024
- Kim Wiswell
- Apr 30, 2024
- Tanisha Dilbert
- Apr 27, 2024
- Gary Wickert
- Apr 17, 2024
- NCCI