Since my first day of law school, I have heard the statistic that "98% of cases don't go to trial," (or something to that effect). While this may be true, it does not mean that "98% of clients never stand in front of a judge."
A trial is where the facts and evidence get put before a judge, or jury, who will then weigh that evidence and make a determination. There are plenty of other situations where you may find yourself standing in a courtroom, so I thought it would be nice to provide a few things to keep in mind.
1. Dress appropriately.
I have yet to find myself in a court where there is not at least one person wearing street clothes. Look, I like comfortable clothes too. So does the judge, the court reporter, and the bailiff. Legal professionals are, after all, humans. But, you won't see an attorney, judge, court reporter, or bailiff wearing their favorite sweatpants and hoodie combo to work. Think of it as a "when in Rome" kind of situation. Everybody who is on the clock is dressed professionally, so why not follow suit (no pun intended) and show everyone that you take their job seriously too? It certainly can't hurt.
2. Addressing The Court
Repeat after me: "Yes your Honor," "No your Honor," "Thank you your Honor." Notice a pattern? "Sir" and "ma'am" are usually considered to be a very respectful way of addressing someone and most judges and magistrates probably won't take any offense to being called "sir or "ma'am." But, at the end of the day, they earned the right to wear those robes and to be addressed as "your Honor." By saying "your Honor" instead of "sir" or "ma'am" you are simply recognizing the distinction. Once again, it can't hurt.
3. Turn off your cellphone.
Do I need to explain this one? "Off" means off. Don't put it on silent, TURN...IT...OFF!
4. Speak when spoken to.
Judges have a lot of discretion in how they choose to run their courtroom. Some are more informal than others, some prefer certain parties to sit on certain sides of their courtroom, some like pie more than cake. What they do not like is to have their courtroom turn into a circus.
Opposing parties and witnesses may say things that rile you up or seem to distort the truth, or may even be flat out lies. This is what your attorney is there for. If you start speaking out of turn or start addressing the other side directly, or, worse yet, start interrupting the judge, you are very likely going to turn the judge against you. This is not going to help you and it will almost certainly hurt your case. Keep calm, and speak when spoken to.
5. Don't be late, but if you can't help it...
Sometimes there are circumstances beyond your control (i.e. a traffic accident, your car won't start etc.) which can cause you to be late. If you are going to be late to a court hearing of any kind, call your attorney, or, if you don't have an attorney representing you, call the court as soon as possible. Sometimes being late can't be avoided, but letting a judge stew while waiting for you to show up is definitely not going to help your situation. Most courts have their phone numbers posted on a website. It takes no time at all to look it up on a smartphone, or to enter it into your phone before your day in court. Once again, the judge may not be happy, but hopefully a phone call can prevent the judge from being truly irate.
This post is for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice or as forming an attorney-client relationship. If you are in the Dayton, Ohio area and think that you may be in need of legal assistance, please contact Strain Law Office, LLC.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Friday, February 5, 2016
The Middle Class Gap: Too rich for legal aid and too poor to hire an attorney.
Lawyers are expensive. Lawyers are also usually necessary to achieve a fair outcome. Our justice system is an adversarial one, meaning that the two sides of a dispute (or the criminal defendant and the state) will argue tooth and nail for their respective sides, the end result will be a product of that conflict, and, hopefully, it will therefore be just, or at least, justifiable.
There is a growing concern that the middle class, those above the poverty line, but without a lot of disposable income, are being relegated to going it alone, not because they do not want a lawyer to help them, but because they can not afford to hire an attorney, and do not qualify for legal assistance through a legal aid foundation or a public defenders office.
This article from the Washington Post (June 2, 2015) gives a more in depth analysis of the problem, but the title itself describes the solution: "We don't need fewer lawyers, we need cheaper ones." As the article points out, one of the biggest issues for lawyers is that they have very large student loans which they must repay. This drives up their overhead, and that cost is passed on to the client. This is one of several factors that makes legal representation so expensive.
When you factor in the overhead of actually practicing law, such as an office (rent, furniture, supplies, computers), support staff (paralegals, secretaries, assistants), and the cost of maintaining a law license (bar dues, continuing legal education courses, professional malpractice insurance) it starts to become clear that the profit margin for an attorney is very slim, while the paycheck they do take home is drastically reduced by the need to payback student loans. This ultimately results in attorneys being unaffordable to the vast majority of clients, while legal aid programs must turn more and more clients away due to budget cuts. In other words, the middle class (a majority of potential clients) simply go without an attorney despite the fact that it puts them at a serious disadvantage.
So what's the solution? Well, there are several. First and foremost, it is up to individual attorneys to cut down their overhead. This can be tricky, but if enough fat is trimmed then a creative practitioner can create room for a profit while still keeping the clients' bills low. This can be done by utilizing things like free legal research tools that can be accessed by state and local bar associations (something most attorneys belong to), setting an adjustable fee schedule, and setting up clients with a repayment plan. Ultimately, individual attorneys need to reject the "business-as-usual" approach to representation, and come up with a system of practicing law that allows for more individuals to access their services.
One of the solutions listed above, an adjustable fee schedule, is something that I have personally had success with. For my work, there are two basic types of fees: a flat rate and an hourly fee. A flat rate is exactly what it sounds like. The client and myself agree to a specific kind of legal representation, counseling, or service, and a specific dollar amount for that service. This gives the client a known price, and if it can not be paid all at once, then a payment plan can be agreed to, i.e. pay $100 per month until the fee is paid in full.
The other type of fee is a billable rate. This is a set price per hour for time spent on a client's case. Usually (or at least, traditionally) this is a one-size-fits-all rate, i.e. $200 per hour. However, there is nothing preventing an attorney from setting multiple billable rates for different types of work. To this end, I split my billable rates into different categories ranging from the least intensive work (client communication or basic research) all the way up to the most intensive work (trials and court appearances). While it is a generally accepted practice to bill hours according to one set price, I personally don't see why a client should be paying me the same amount of money to write an email as they would to have me actively representing them in a courtroom.
There are other emerging trends in the legal industry designed to reduce the cost of hiring an attorney, and this is the direction that the profession needs to continue moving in. Ultimately, this will benefit the profession by creating a new market of clients that have previously been going without representation, and it certainly benefits those individuals who would otherwise not have an attorney to give them the best chance there is to achieving a fair result.
This post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or forming an attorney-client relationship. If you are in the Dayton, Ohio area and think you are in need of legal counseling or representation, feel free to contact Strain Law Office to schedule an appointment.
There is a growing concern that the middle class, those above the poverty line, but without a lot of disposable income, are being relegated to going it alone, not because they do not want a lawyer to help them, but because they can not afford to hire an attorney, and do not qualify for legal assistance through a legal aid foundation or a public defenders office.
This article from the Washington Post (June 2, 2015) gives a more in depth analysis of the problem, but the title itself describes the solution: "We don't need fewer lawyers, we need cheaper ones." As the article points out, one of the biggest issues for lawyers is that they have very large student loans which they must repay. This drives up their overhead, and that cost is passed on to the client. This is one of several factors that makes legal representation so expensive.
When you factor in the overhead of actually practicing law, such as an office (rent, furniture, supplies, computers), support staff (paralegals, secretaries, assistants), and the cost of maintaining a law license (bar dues, continuing legal education courses, professional malpractice insurance) it starts to become clear that the profit margin for an attorney is very slim, while the paycheck they do take home is drastically reduced by the need to payback student loans. This ultimately results in attorneys being unaffordable to the vast majority of clients, while legal aid programs must turn more and more clients away due to budget cuts. In other words, the middle class (a majority of potential clients) simply go without an attorney despite the fact that it puts them at a serious disadvantage.
So what's the solution? Well, there are several. First and foremost, it is up to individual attorneys to cut down their overhead. This can be tricky, but if enough fat is trimmed then a creative practitioner can create room for a profit while still keeping the clients' bills low. This can be done by utilizing things like free legal research tools that can be accessed by state and local bar associations (something most attorneys belong to), setting an adjustable fee schedule, and setting up clients with a repayment plan. Ultimately, individual attorneys need to reject the "business-as-usual" approach to representation, and come up with a system of practicing law that allows for more individuals to access their services.
One of the solutions listed above, an adjustable fee schedule, is something that I have personally had success with. For my work, there are two basic types of fees: a flat rate and an hourly fee. A flat rate is exactly what it sounds like. The client and myself agree to a specific kind of legal representation, counseling, or service, and a specific dollar amount for that service. This gives the client a known price, and if it can not be paid all at once, then a payment plan can be agreed to, i.e. pay $100 per month until the fee is paid in full.
The other type of fee is a billable rate. This is a set price per hour for time spent on a client's case. Usually (or at least, traditionally) this is a one-size-fits-all rate, i.e. $200 per hour. However, there is nothing preventing an attorney from setting multiple billable rates for different types of work. To this end, I split my billable rates into different categories ranging from the least intensive work (client communication or basic research) all the way up to the most intensive work (trials and court appearances). While it is a generally accepted practice to bill hours according to one set price, I personally don't see why a client should be paying me the same amount of money to write an email as they would to have me actively representing them in a courtroom.
There are other emerging trends in the legal industry designed to reduce the cost of hiring an attorney, and this is the direction that the profession needs to continue moving in. Ultimately, this will benefit the profession by creating a new market of clients that have previously been going without representation, and it certainly benefits those individuals who would otherwise not have an attorney to give them the best chance there is to achieving a fair result.
This post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or forming an attorney-client relationship. If you are in the Dayton, Ohio area and think you are in need of legal counseling or representation, feel free to contact Strain Law Office to schedule an appointment.
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