Lawyers usually want to provide concierge legal services and complete a given project for clients from start to finish. Even though clients can be involved in some parts of the process, lawyers typically prefer to handle everything by themselves either because they do not want to show how easy some tasks are or because they do not want a client to mess things up. However, clients sometimes wish to handle certain tasks themselves since this can save money, and they want to have ownership of things that need to be done during a representation. In some instances, clients can handle tasks themselves perfectly well, but lawyers should be careful when deciding whether a client can be trusted to complete a task without the involvement of a lawyer.
Earlier in my career, I handled a task that required me to obtain a document from a clerk of a court that was located in a different state. As a result, I had to do everything through the mail — a slow process. Ultimately, my request was rejected for procedural reasons, and I had to go through the process of requesting a particular document all over again. I prepared an updated application for the document and was ready to mail these materials to the clerk of the relevant court.
At that point, my client conveyed that they had an office in the location in which we had to request a given document from a court clerk. The client stated that it might be faster if someone from their local office went to the clerk to request the document in person. I was doubtful that the client would be able to effectively request the document since there were a lot of moving parts, but I agreed to the plan. I made sure to write extensive instructions to ensure that my client had all of the information to complete this task.
My client performed perfectly, and the application was accepted by the clerk of the relevant court. Moreover, since the client went to the office of the clerk in person, my client could ask the clerk questions about the documents and make corrections in real time to help ensure that the application was not rejected again. In addition, since the application did not need to be mailed to the clerk, and the clerk did not need to mail back the requested documents, we saved about a week. At bottom, this was mostly an administrative task, so the client was competent to follow instructions and help us obtain the needed document.
At another point in my career, I had a client who wanted to get involved in selecting and interacting with expert witnesses to a case. Although I had my reservations, I let my client go ahead and secure experts because I was busy with other matters, and I figured that any expert qualified in a given field would be helpful for our case. This ended up creating more problems than if I had just taken control of the expert search in the first place.
My client secured the cheapest expert available, and the quality of the expert report likely reflected the rate paid for that expert testimony. Moreover, the client did not know that an expert disclosure was more involved than merely providing a resume, and the client did not understand that an expert report needed to be a robust submission rather than a brief summary of the expert’s opinions. I had to parachute into the matter to make sure that court requirements were satisfied, which created more work than if I had taken control of the expert search from the beginning.
All told, I am not against allowing clients to complete tasks on their own, especially since they are the ones paying for legal services and have the ultimate say in what happens during a representation. However, lawyers should reserve client involvement to administrative tasks and complete any tasks that require more legal skill completely on their own.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.
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