competition success review magazine free pdf

competitionsuccess review magazine free pdf Published
this article page no Contrary to popular
belief the legal profession is not all about fair representation or innocence
vs. guilt. Its a business and like all
other businesses its really all about making money careers and relationships. During
the matter of my divorce (thats lawyer talk - its always the matter of this and
the matter of that) I spent about $30000 on three different attorneys in an
extremely frustrating effort just to be able to see my own children. As each
lawyer failed to obtain one single worthwhile benefit for me I fired them and
hired another one. I couldnt help but notice that I was never allowed to speak
directly to the judge and I felt that these people were not saying what I
wanted them to say as well as I could. So in the end I fired them all and
decided to represent myself in court In Propria Persona (as my own
attorney). It was then that I learned
the most important lesson of all <center>The Name of the Game in court is DONT PISS OFF THE JUDGE!</center> The
hard truth of the matter is that attorneys have to work with the judges and
with the other attorneys every day. A client is just a client and when the case
is over its over and they need to get on with the next one. Its really all
about careers and about relationships and the attorneys daily business
relationships are with other attorneys. They have ethical guidelines which
compel them to show respect even if they dont like each other. But when it
comes to the judges its not a matter of like or dislike. The judges are little
gods and the reality is that they have huge case loads which just get larger no
matter what they do and the attorneys understand that the way to help the
judges is to move the cases through court as quickly as possible. Help a judge
do that and youre on their good side. Take too long with one particular client
and youre not. DONT PISS OFF THE JUDGE or the judge will find a way to take it
out on you and you will not like it when that happens. One particular judge
actually said to me I dont get angry I get even. Attorneys dont have to be told
that they know it. They understand that a career can be lost by alienating a
judge and that relationships can be jeopardized by alienating their peers. The
vast majority of attorneys will not risk their careers or jeopardize their professional
relationships for any one particular client. So does anybody really need an
attorney? The law actually implies that we dont because we are given the right
to represent ourselves in court if we choose to. Does anybody really want you
to know this? Definitely not because if everybody represented themselves how
would all the law school graduates make a living? But heres the big problem.
When you think you need an attorney its almost always because youve gotten into
some kind of serious trouble and you think that the stakes are too high if you
lose. Its kind of like needing a new roof. Nobody even thinks about their roof
until its too late and the thing is leaking uncontrollably. And its only then
that they find out how incredibly expensive a new roof is and how impossible it
is to educate yourself properly on the subject in order to know how to spend
all that money and not get ripped off. Similarly until youre in serious trouble
you probably dont even think about having to choose an attorney. And now the
stakes are much higher than when you need a new roof because with the roof the
great danger is spending a lot of money and not getting what you paid for. With
your legal difficulty it could be about having to go to JAIL not to mention
spending a lot of money on an attorney and then having to go to jail. So when
youre in that situation the conventional wisdom is unanimous - get the best
attorney you can afford. So you bust your budget and make your selection. You
sit there in court and watch the attorney do his/her job. How are you supposed
to be able to know whether the best possible job is being done for you? Theres
no way to know because you dont understand the game thats being played out.
After all is said and done the judge calls both attorneys into chambers and the
goal of the meeting is to find a compromise solution that will move the case
out of court. The attorneys do their thing and then they come back into court
and tell you This is the best possible deal youre going to get. Trust me. If
you dont take this deal youre going to make the judge angry and you will never
get this deal again. What can you do? Nothing. You just lost. But if you ever
make the decision to represent yourself in court youd better understand how to
behave properly or you will really piss off the judge. Here are the basics of
good courtroom behavior 1. Dont
digress. Make your points quickly
logically and in logical order. 2. Always
look the judge directly in the eyes when talking. 3. Forget your ego and just grovel. Say your Honor with all due respect forgive
my ignorance and things like that. 4. Dress
well. Notice that the attorneys all
wear suits. Now why do you think they do that? Because they all own stock in
Brooks Brothers? 5. When you do get
your chance to go back into chambers follow rules 1 through 4 again. If you can
master these basics you will find that an amazing thing happens. The judge will
be entertained by you simply because what youre doing is very rare and its not
what they have to sit through every day. If youre good and stick to the basics
the judge will bend over backwards to assist you. Of course there is the matter
of knowing the law and proper court procedure. Its possible to lose a case just
by missing a trick and being beat to the punch by your opposing attorney on a
simple point of order.competition success review magazine free pdf