THE ACCIDENTAL CLIENT

Lawyers, like other professionals, often are targeted for free advice. It happens at the grocery store, on an airplane and even at social gatherings. The concern is that there are many issues involved in putting together an attorney-client relationship, and unless all parties know the rules and agree to play by them, there can be problems.

One serious issue is that unless both parties agree that they are going to conduct themselves as attorney and client, there is no privilege. This is a crucial issue, especially when the prospective client starts telling the attorney things about himself or another party. The attorney may represent the other party, or know him, and thus acquire information or knowledge that can be used against the other person.

Another cardinal rule is that the prospective client needs to know that the attorney wants to help them. Not all attorneys handle all types of legal issues, although it has been my experience that most attorneys, myself included, will be quick to give you their opinion, whether they know what they are talking about or not. It is in our DNA to try to help people, so if you ask a tax attorney about a property dispute, he will hearken back to a first-year property class taken 20 years ago at 8:00a.m. in law school and try to put together some type of response for you.

I have also learned that we attorneys do not like saying, “I don’t know.” So we will often conjure up some logical sounding bunch of gobbledygook for you. Once those words are out of the attorney’s mouth, it becomes his opinion, which can lead to trouble. And that opinion can often lead to the layperson relying on the attorney’s expressed beliefs, which when relied upon by the layperson, can rise to the level of legal advice. Hence, the accidental client syndrome arises.

So let’s back up to the initial meeting between the two people, and let’s reconstruct the situation as it often happens. The two people meet, and one says, “What do you do for a living?” The other one says, “I am an attorney.” The first one asks the attorney, “Do you know what they call a busload of attorneys at the bottom of a lake?” The attorney smiles knowingly and says, “A good start.”

This is usually how it begins. Then the joke teller will say, “You know, I am having a bit of a problem at home with the limbs of my neighbor’s tree hanging over my driveway and dropping leaves into the bed of my pickup truck. What can I do?” If the attorney is worth his salt, he politely smiles, turns on his heel, and as he is walking away says, “Move the truck.”

But the better approach might be for the attorney to say something like this: “I don’t handle boundary line disputes. They can be difficult. I know a guy that you can call whose office is not far from here, and his name is...” This solves two problems at once. The lawyer gets out of a long-winded explanation of the property owner’s woes, and he helps the guy at the same time. Let me tell you, there is nothing like standing in the frozen food aisle listening to some windbag tell you all about the leaf rot in the bed of his truck. Please...!

And if the attorney is really looking for some business, he can turn the chat around to whatever his own specialty might be and have a chance to bore his new friend for a while. You know what they say about payback. Nothing warms my heart more than shooting some tax code numbers at a half-drunk partygoer, and watching his eyes glaze over. Then you get to see him start looking around for his wife, of all people, to come and rescue him from me. If I am lucky, I can hold on to a guy like that until his drink goes dry, and then I get to break it off with the old reliable, “Gee, your glass is empty. Can I get you a refill?” At that point this guy is running for the bar, calling out a hasty “Thank you, but I’ll get it myself” over his shoulder. Mission accomplished.

In conclusion, if you have an encounter with an attorney, lay in the fetal position until he pokes around awhile, realizes that you are not food and moves on. Or better yet, ask him if he handles the type of problem you are having. Then ask for a business card and take your problem to his den where he can help you solve it.

Chris Abernethy is an Elder Law Attorney in the North Hills, and concentrates his practice in estate planning, probate, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills and real estate. He is a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys and a charter member of the AARP Legal Services Network.