Speak to a sample group of London employment lawyers and chances are each and every one will be able to tell you of a client that blew their own chances of success simply by being unable to keep their mouths shut. It sounds silly, but each and every day there are plenty of people up and down the UK that have brilliant cases against their employers, have done their homework and have found the best lawyer for the job…and somehow they managed to fail before getting off the ground.
Which begs the question – what went wrong?
Well, the simple answer in most cases is that the perfect lawyer for the job decided this wasn’t the case for them on the back of something their would-have-been client said. So, with this in mind, what follows is a quite introduction to just a few of the guaranteed ways of annoying a prospective lawyer and having them turn down your case, perhaps ruining your chances of a successful outcome:
1 – It’s an Easy Case, No Worries
First of all, if it really was an easy case and nothing to worry about, you wouldn’t need a lawyer. The fact that you have gone out of your way to find a lawyer basically confirms that it is anything but easy and therefore to make out any differently is inadvisable. Worse still, calling it easy will suggest to the lawyer that you don’t think they’ll have to do much work on the case, which is probably 100% wrong across the board. It’s up to the lawyer to tell you how easy or otherwise the case might be, so don’t go preaching what you don’t know.
2 – I Want At Least a Million, Nothing Less
In this instance, you’re off on the wrong foot again for two reasons. First of all, it’s not up to you to decide what your case might be worth as it all comes down to the complicated and intricate details of the case which are the exact reason you went to a lawyer in the first place. In addition, it’s very infrequently that standard employee/employer cases bring in this kind of money. Blurt out a big figure you want and your lawyer will simply think you’re unrealistic, greedy and probably a nightmare to work with…which in turn means they’ll choose not to do as such.
3 – I Have a Bunch of Other Lawyers On Standby
Some clients say this as a means by which to say ‘If you don’t want it, there’s a whole bunch of others waiting’ which in about 99% of instances isn’t the case at all. If you go to a specific lawyer, you go to them for a reason. If on the other hand you’d have been happier with another, you’d have gone to them first. It’s an unnecessarily pushy sales pitch on behalf of the client that never fails to rub legal types up the wrong way, so do yourself a favour and don’t do it.
4 – I’ve Been Quoted Much Better Prices Elsewhere
This is another example of a situation where you’ll probably just be told that if you have a better offer, feel free to go and take it. It’s one thing to be quoted a lower price, but given the fact that you get what you pay for you have to weigh up what matters more – cheap fees or success. So, in order not to get off on the wrong footing, don’t blurt this one out.
5 – I Know We Agreed on the Fee But…
Once you agree on the lawyer’s fee, that’s it…end of story. It doesn’t matter what you get offered elsewhere or how you might reconsider along the way, this is the bill for the services offered and it’s non-negotiable. After all, how would you feel if you were charged way more than the bill you’d agreed on when having your car fixed?
6 – That’s Not What Your Receptionist Told Me
Seriously…who’s the legal expert in the equation here? There are always those who chat openly with the other members of staff around the office only to then bring up any discrepancies with their actual legal representative. It doesn’t matter if the receptionist told you your employment lawyer works Sundays…it only matter what they tell you.
The simple fact of the matter is that it’s not difficult to stay on the good side of your employment lawyer and if you manage to do so, you’ll build a rapport that’s guaranteed to help you achieve the outcome you’re after.
