There is no such thing as bad dogs…

Only bad owners.

We’ve all heard that one before and we all know what we mean. The dog is not the problem, it’s the way he’s bought up, trained etc. I do wonder if the same is ever thought about children and parents but people are too polite to say it out loud!

Or there is the slightly more dramatic

             Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.

It’s no less true, but a slightly more graphic illustration of the point.

But I have my own version.

Solicitors aren’t expensive. People don’t know how to use them properly.

Actually, on one or two occasions I’ve muttered a slightly less polite version of that line under my breath, usually when speaking to a potential new client who calls up for my advice and then argues with me when I tell them that their case is not guaranteed to win, and not just because nothing is guaranteed in my world.

Fortunately very few of my clients ever complain about the quality or level of service that they receive, or the level of our charges, but I do often come across people who are reluctant to instruct solicitors because of the cost. I’ve also taken over a few cases from other firms, where part of the reason for the breakdown of the relationship is not the case itself, but the fees.

So I have an answer, or at least a suggestion. There are lots of things that clients can do to help keep the costs down for themselves. Strangely enough it doesn’t include doing any of the work for themselves, as that can often do more harm than good.  A client recently emailed the court directly (they are perfectly entitled to do so) but she didn’t know that there is a rule about copying in the other side. This means that I’ve spent more time trying to calm my opponent down and reassure them that it was a misunderstanding rather than an attempt to avoid the process that the client saved in legal fees by sending the email in the first place. So I’ve written a guide to helping make the legal process more cost effective. If you’d like a copy, drop me a line at stephanie@kleymansolicitors.com, and I’ll send it to you. I hope it will be much more popular than my guide to training dogs, and considerably more reliable than my guide to parenting.

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full service law firm. Guiding you in the right direction.