If you took my silence to mean I was busy, you would have been right.
Busy kicking ass.
I took on a new case in April, representing some out of state defendants getting sued here in Virginia. I took over from a Very Large Firm in Virginia that decided it just couldn't handle the case, and when I got the file, I discovered that the Very Large Firm had been busy screwing the case up - waiving crucial defenses, blowing deadlines, even failing to notify the clients about a critical hearing so that no one appeared.
It felt like a suicide run, but I believed my clients were wrongly accused and so I dug in.
Five months, two continuances, three major hearings, numerous phone calls, and too many attorney-hours later, the Plaintiff ran up the white flag. Total surrender.
There were a lot of factors that played into it, but the main one was finding the weak spot and latching onto it like a bulldog. The net result is that opposing counsel is reeling from an unexpected defeat, and those clients are probably mine for life. (They now preface lawyer jokes with "Except for Mike...")
I feel great about the job I've done, and I learned a powerful lesson about the Large Firm mentality. If you're a Fortune 500 company, you'll get great service from a Very Large Firm. If not, you'll fall through their cracks. Go with someone who will commit to your cause.
My clients did, and boy, are they glad.
Posted by wasylik at September 25, 2003 04:48 PM | TrackBack