White People

I am not going to catalog clients right now. Maybe I'll do that at some point in the future and piss everybody off. However, let me start with this:

One of the things that truly amazes me, and this typically happens with white clients, i.e., people born in the U.S.:

A client says, "You are a bad attorney. You have not done what I wanted you to do. You really suck." (At this point, the client usually owes money.)

I say, "Okay, here's the Substitution of Attorney for you to sign."

The client says, "No, I refuse to sign it!"

So, in essence, the client is saying that he/she doesn't like the way I am handling the case, but yet, in spite of the terrible way I am handling it, refuses to sign a substitution of attorney, which would get me off the case. Instead, I have to NOW draft and file a Motion to Withdraw, getting the court's permission and order removing me as the attorney.

In the meantime, I am the attorney of record for a client who says that I am doing a terrible job. If I am doing such a bad job, why wouldn't the client want me off the case so that the client can get another attorney who is better than I am?

What this really means is that the client is trying to hold me hostage on his/her case without paying. He/she doesn't really think I am doing a bad job. He/she really wants me to be forced to work on his/her case, without pay, until I finally get an order from the court letting me get off the case.

This usually happens with white people. It's kind of interesting. White people, meaning the people born here in the U.S., expect to get legal services for free. White people think that they are "entitled" to free legal services.

Okay, here goes cataloging:

People who are Hispanic are the best clients. They pay the fees and listen to the advice and do what they are supposed to do. Their cases go so much easier.

People from India or from the Pakistani area, or from Vietnam, want to negotiate. They will negotiate at the risk of their case going to the dogs.

Now, I have to go back to white people for a mintue. While it is true that only white people have tried to completely get legal services for free, there have been many white people who have listened to me. I should mention this, to be fair.

However, I should also mention that there are other attorneys who shall remain nameless who agree with me that white people want to second-guess their attorney, even to their own detriment.

Okay, I'm done for now.