Thinking about printing up a pamphlet for micro-/small-business owners and individuals called, "SO YOU'VE DECIDED TO HIRE A LAWYER. HERE ARE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW."
1. YOU HAVE TO PAY YOUR LAWYER. This seems obvious to a lot of people, but some people think lawyers are different because we provide our time and expertise to solve your problems. If you agreed to pay, you need to pay.
2. REALLY. PAY YOUR LAWYER. Among the amusing things lawyers can do is put liens on your files, sometimes even your cases and property, and suck the money out of you piece by piece.
3. CONSIDER THE PROFESSION YOU'RE HIRING BEFORE DECIDING TO SKIP OUT ON YOUR BILL. If you're hiring a lawyer who goes to court, and you announce after telling him to do a bunch of work and that you'll pay him that you won't, he may sue you. He's probably ok at that job.
4. YOUR THREAT TO TAKE HIM TO THE BAR FOR GETTING HIS MONEY WILL NOT DETER HIM. We are ethically forbidden from trading away anything for bar complaints or non-complaints. We also know that this is you squealing.
5. YOUR CLAIM THAT ANOTHER LAWYER SAID YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY HIM MEANS NOTHING. Our entire job is dealing with other lawyers posturing, bulls****ing, and asserting with absolute confidence positions of zero to greater merit. Your secondhand assertion isn't even hearsay.
