In a post entitled An "Off Hours Law Practice Is An On Point Idea" Carolyn Elefant endorses house calls by lawyers deeming it a high impact marketing practice. Since I work for myself I have seen first hand the impact this can have on a client and how it generally improves lawyer/client relationships. But sometimes you get less or more than you bargained for.
Some years ago when I was working at another firm I was instructed by a partner to make a house call to a client who was notorious for being difficult. I suppose the partner either considered himself rather forward thinking as he embraced Ms. Elefant's ideas or he recognized his own limitations in dealing with the client or he was just too busy to make house calls. In any event I found myself knocking at this person's door at about 10 o'clock one morning. I don't recall having spoken to the client before and when I saw her I was somewhat surprised. The lady was as old as the hills and consistent with her difficult reputation, crotchety too. I am telling you she looked like she was about 100 years old, I later learned that she was about 90 but she was not a sweet old lady. Rest her dear soul.
I remember her immediate complaints that I had come instead of the partner, her announcement that her son was abroad (did I know him?) and her stubborn declaration that she was not signing the document. I don't remember now exactly what the matter was about but I do recall making an attempt to calm her down. I also offered to hear her out and explain the legalities, the implications and the advantages of our proposal whatever it was. All this was done with me sitting gingerly on the single empty chair available as every other area was covered with junk. The little studio apartment just could not bear what seemed like a centuries' worth of clutter and oh the smell! The old lady smoked you see and I suspect she was quite adept at holding her liquor too.
She was a stubborn as a mule and refused to sign but that was fine as I had established some kind of rapport and knew that I or some other poor lawyer would be back. I even ended up giving some free advice about some noise nuisance that she was complaining about. What was hilarious though was the advice she gave me and at her age I figured she ought to be an authority. According to my dear 90 year old now deceased client,
I laughed all the way back to the office. On my arrival I convinced the male partner to make the next visit.
Esoteric Legal Phrase:
Nuisance - Excessive or unlawful use of one’s property to the extent of unreasonable annoyance or inconvenience to a neighbor or to the public.
Source: Swapmeetdave
Some years ago when I was working at another firm I was instructed by a partner to make a house call to a client who was notorious for being difficult. I suppose the partner either considered himself rather forward thinking as he embraced Ms. Elefant's ideas or he recognized his own limitations in dealing with the client or he was just too busy to make house calls. In any event I found myself knocking at this person's door at about 10 o'clock one morning. I don't recall having spoken to the client before and when I saw her I was somewhat surprised. The lady was as old as the hills and consistent with her difficult reputation, crotchety too. I am telling you she looked like she was about 100 years old, I later learned that she was about 90 but she was not a sweet old lady. Rest her dear soul.
I remember her immediate complaints that I had come instead of the partner, her announcement that her son was abroad (did I know him?) and her stubborn declaration that she was not signing the document. I don't remember now exactly what the matter was about but I do recall making an attempt to calm her down. I also offered to hear her out and explain the legalities, the implications and the advantages of our proposal whatever it was. All this was done with me sitting gingerly on the single empty chair available as every other area was covered with junk. The little studio apartment just could not bear what seemed like a centuries' worth of clutter and oh the smell! The old lady smoked you see and I suspect she was quite adept at holding her liquor too.
She was a stubborn as a mule and refused to sign but that was fine as I had established some kind of rapport and knew that I or some other poor lawyer would be back. I even ended up giving some free advice about some noise nuisance that she was complaining about. What was hilarious though was the advice she gave me and at her age I figured she ought to be an authority. According to my dear 90 year old now deceased client,
"Don't let any man fool you. Sex is overrated."
I laughed all the way back to the office. On my arrival I convinced the male partner to make the next visit.
Esoteric Legal Phrase:
Nuisance - Excessive or unlawful use of one’s property to the extent of unreasonable annoyance or inconvenience to a neighbor or to the public.
3 comments:
Write it down as an experience never to be forgotten.
Did you perhaps visit my gramma? Her advice to me has included, "You should just try getting married - if you don't like it you can always leave him for someone else" and "You know, you don't have to be married to have babies." She really wanted some (more)great-grandbabies, you see.
Grandmas often give great advice. Pity I can't post what mine told me here. It was in Jamaican patois anyway.
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