A Lawyer is Not a Bus

Well, that’s an interesting title, but what does it mean? I am always taken aback when a prospective client is amazed or even angered when I will not take his or her case. There can be a myriad of reasons for these decisions, and it all comes down to an adage I learned in law school, “A lawyer is not a bus.”

I am talking about a public bus, not a school bus. When a public bus drives down the street and stops at its various stops, what does the bus do? It picks up everyone at the stop and carries them to the appropriate stop on the route.

A lawyer on the other hand, is not a bus. A lawyer does not have to pick up everyone waiting at every stop and has no duty to carry all those people to any destination on the route. The point being that there is no obligation on the part of the lawyer to take the case of every person who walks in the door or calls on the phone.

The reasons for taking a case, or not taking a case, are many but can be reduced to two things: money and aggravation. During an initial contact with a prospective client, the lawyer should be asking him or herself two questions: first, am I qualified and available for this client? Second, can I make money on this representation?

Sometimes a lawyer is just not qualified or comfortable taking on a case because it is beyond his or her area of expertise. Sometimes the lawyer has a conflict of interest, meaning the lawyer or the firm has a case or position associated with the other side that potentially clouds the representation of the new client. Sometimes the lawyer has sized up the potential client and decided that the client cannot afford to pay what it is going to take to move the case to its conclusion. Sometimes, based on logical or illogical reasons, the lawyer just does not want to get involved. As a follow-up to that, some lawyers are “hungrier” than others and more willing to take a risk than his or her colleagues. This all goes back to what I state above, a lawyer is under no obligation to take a particular case. The potential client should not take it personally when the lawyer does not offer that individual representation.

The client just needs to either make a few more phone calls or a few more searches on the internet. As for me, while I cannot promise that I will take your case, I will promise that I will hear you out and give you an honest assessment of whether or not you have a valid claim that can be cost effectively pursued.