cold gathers
at the bottom of the hill
empty mailbox
wide-eyed colt
lays back his ears
falling snow
by dagosan:
peanut sauce
on her tongue
– two days ago
[Nov. 16, 2004]
from 
If you need this article from the ABA litigation section, you may need a new career: “Client Expectations: Discovering Them, Understanding Them, Managing Them,” by Bruce Bikin. Also, despite being posted on the TIPS
page, you won’t find any practical tips on how to discover and understand, much less manage, client expectations.
On a related topic: my Referer list brought me to a cluster of articles about Lawyers Who Sue Lawyers (May 3, 1999, 99 LWUSA 414). The story of W. Robert Curtis, who only handles plaintiffs’ legal malpractice cases, is quite interesting. If your firm is engaging in any of the 21 behaviors on Curtis’ “problem areas” list, please cease and desist. His successor firm, Curtis & Associates, offers a useful Is Something Wrong? page. Of coures, we’re wondering if the Curtis gang uses the oft-unfair standard contingency fee. Also, see
If a Lawyer Bilks You from HALT
Suing Your Lawyer by Sherrie Bennett for law.com
cf. ethicalEsq Informing Consumers page
News for Visiting Martians: “Charles Bahn, a professor of forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said college degrees ‘don’t necessarily lead to a higher moral system… or mean that you are more honest.'” (via SWVa LawBlog, “Why did so many Virginia social services workers steal”) The 9th Circuit en banc has more to say on excusable neglect and delegation to a non-lawyer. [Pincay v. Andrews] Like dissenting Judge Kosinski, I’m unhappy with a society (and a profession) that believes “taking full responsibility” for a mistake means never facing any consequences. Of course, the client shouldn’t suffer for choosing an irresponsible lawyer. See George Wallace.
Venting here was not quite sufficient for Evan Schaeffer, so he wrote his own post “Is Walter Olson Running Out of Material?” concering the slant Overlawyered gave to the get your million dollars vioxx lawsuit website story. Of course, hoax page or not, those do appear to be genuine Google Ads by lawyers on the website — let’s see if any of them act to have their ads removed. [Update 8 PM: you’ll find some interesting Comments at Evan’s place — with Ted Frank, Fed84, Coyote and more.]