Around the Blawgosphere
Brian Tannebaum shares a key tenet of his client intake philosophy at My Law License: Never be the second lawyer. “The majority of people who have a falling out with the first lawyer, will never be happy with any lawyer,” Tannebaum writes. “Many calls I receive from clients with Bar complaints begin with ‘I was the (second, third, fourth) lawyer on the case.’ “
At Simple Justice, criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield says he’s willing to be the “second lawyer” if he determines that the client’s problem is his lawyer rather than having unrealistic expectations. But if “the lawyer is competent and has served the defendant well even though the defendant lays his anger at the lawyer’s feet, beg off.” Greenfield wrote. “If you take this client on despite the fact that his former lawyer did nothing wrong, this will be the nightmare client. This is the client Brian is talking about. If you take this case, you deserve whatever happens to you.”
In honor of opening day and the 25th anniversary season of the 1986 Mets v. Red Sox World Series, New York Personal Injury Law Blog’s Eric Turkewitz (in lieu of an April Fool’s joke?) interviewed Mike Sergio, who parachuted into Game 6 of that series while carrying a “Go Mets” banner. Sergio later spent three weeks in jail after refusing to reveal the name of the pilot who flew him over Shea Stadium for the stunt. Turkewitz asked: Was there ever a moment when he regretted the jump? “Not a single time … not for a single moment … not even when I was in jail and I honestly thought I was going to have to do at least 18 months on the contempt of court charge … not even then,” Sergio replied.
Kelly Phillips Erb, raised a glass to the introduction of the Small BREW Act—aka the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act—in the Senate this week at Taxgirl. The act would cut the small brewer tax rate on the first 60,000 barrels by 50 percent, to $3.50 per barrel, and set the tax rate at $16 on barrels 60,000 through 2 million. “Pro business and pro beer? Who would vote no on that?” Erb writes.
Last week, an ABA survey was reported that fewer than 15 percent of respondents said they consulted blogs when looking for a lawyer. Forty-six said they would ask a friend, family member or colleague for a lawyer referral. Does that indicate that blogging is not time well-spent for lawyers? Carolyn Elefant points out at MyShingle that sometimes lawyers refer cases to other lawyers, and she has referred consumer matters to lawyers whose work she knows only from their blogs. “The ABA Survey was about how consumers find lawyers, not how lawyers attract clients. The real test of blogging’s effectiveness for solo and small firm lawyers isn’t to focus on consumers, but instead, to poll solo and small firm bloggers to determine whether their blog generates business.”
