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Knowing & Hiring your Attorney/Lawyer



         Too many of us do not know their attorney’s agendas. Some of us are too busy, and turn our lives over to these attorneys. We must do background checks with the State Bar Association before we select an attorney. You must put your faith and trust in God, not mankind; mankind will let you down 96% of the time. Figure out what your odds are on this one. We must find an attorney that will take the time needed to inform you of their strategy and goals for your situation. Don’t take things at face value because your attorney or counsel might have 100 to 300 clients. We must be prepared to interact.
          According to the American Bar Association there were 1,116,967 licensed attorneys in June 2006. The number rose to 1,143,358 by the end of 2007. The number of lawyers for each state in those years can be found on “Lawyers by state” on the ABA website. The average age of an attorney in 1991 was 41 and 45 in 2000. These numbers continue to rise.
            A seasoned attorney has what we call “tunnel vision” or on “auto pilot”, because they have been doing this for so many years. They don’t want to shake things up, or stir the pot. These are the ones that usually state; I have been practicing law for over 30 years and don’t tell me what the law is, or I have been practicing for years don’t tell me how to do my job.  Then you advise these attorneys to remember who is paying the bill or whose ass is on the line? What you may need is a new attorney, fresh out of law school. Many new attorneys are tenacious and driven to prove themselves. This is your family on the line, take control and be thorough, your future may rely on it.
            Also, go to Universities which have law clinics or law libraries, you may find a law student who can assist you in doing research. Get on the Internet and locate groups that will help you either do research or help you find an attorney with the appropriate experience and can assist you in circumventing this process. When hiring an attorney you may not know if they are a seasoned attorney or a new counsel. Ask them for their references. Maybe they have a conflict of interest with your case? Prior to hiring them on as your counsel, make sure you ask the attorney if he has a conflict with the case. Ask the attorney if they have had any business, personal, financial, or contractual relationships with any other interested party in the case. This could be a conflict of interest, or create bias, or create an impropriety within your cause of action or case.
            This brings me to my next topic. If you get a court appointed attorney, the court sometimes dictates what they can or cannot do, even before you get to court. The court will give the attorney instructions on how far they can proceed, and when to withdraw from counsel if the client begins to figure all this out prior to even going to trial. For those who do not understand this it is called ex parte communications, or without your knowledge. This is illegal in a court of law, but it happens regularly and without a second thought. When you speak to your attorney do not let him control where he wants to proceed in your case, unless you both agree that this is the right way to proceed with this case. It is very simple, keep researching your case and assist your attorney, but work with them and assist them. This is your case. Finally, do not let them dictate your case for you without your consent or agreement. Remember they work for you not the other way around.
         Make sure you contact your State Bar Association and see if your attorney or counsel has any prior or current sanctions, where they were sanctioned either by the court or the ethics board for inappropriate actions within a case. This may detour you from the same pattern of practice, with other clients or actions, in which your attorney may be seasoned or used to committing. It will assist you in finding out what kind of attorney is handling your case, or if your attorney is honest or not. By following these simple concepts, you will help detour any attorney who will complicate a case on purpose just for billable hours or profits. Let’s be clear, all attorneys complicate the situation, for the benefit of money. Secondly, these attorney’s work for you, you are the boss! Third, technology has made it easier to find an attorney.
Also you can use the Internet to locate case law. Go to findlaw.com and check for laws at your fingertips, or your state statutes annotated under your state @statelegislature.com. You need to make your attorney aware of the fact that you’re not just another client. What makes you special is that you are doing your own paralegal research and saving your attorney time to prepare. This also saves you money and they will respect you because of your efforts. Your attorney will see you as someone who understands the law, not as another lost sheep or moneymaker.
            Do not spill your guts to your attorney. They have an obligation to notify the other counsel either prior to preliminary or during discovery. Think before you act, it may save you. Just for the record, most cases are either resolved or complicated prior to the hearing in either, plea’s or continuances, because your attorney has contacted the opposing counsel and resolves or complicates your case, by “ex-parte communications” with the court or opposing counsel. Prior to court, do as much of your own legal research as possible, don’t be lazy and expect your attorney to do everything. You may find something your attorney missed because he has numerous clients, and may not have the time to research your case specific issues. Get to know your attorney personally so you know how they feel on your topics or issues. Also, get a game plan or a strategy for your case prior to going to the hearings or court. Do not get blindsided by not having knowledge of where your attorney is heading, which could lead to the element of surprise at court.
            Ask your attorney if they have a concrete direction so you understand his stance on your case. Some of the questions you might ask are: Is there a possibility that the court gives directives, what they can or cannot do with your case or cause of action? How will they represent you as a client in this case? There are many agendas to watch for in your case. It’s  really simple, either their plan is to complicate your case for billable hours, or they are lazy and they don’t want to take the time to either do the research, interview witnesses, subpoena agencies, case workers and their subcontractors, law enforcement officers, doctors, experts, therapists, or any other personnel or employee that would help your case or show a cause of action. Welcome to Attorney Agenda 101, the easy way to make money as a public appointed attorney, (a public defender, better known as a public pretender) where they do only the basics and wish for the best.
           Do your homework, or get with your counsel. If you do not understand where your counsel is going, just simply ask for their plan or strategy. Understand why your counsel is requesting you to follow his instructions or directives, and what is the desired outcome of these instructions.
Do not let your attorney get on the phone to the opposing party or counsel, and direct your case in any way, without your knowledge. Email your attorney instructions and requests so you can keep a record of your communications with your counsel, and email it back to yourself. This way if by chance, you have to terminate your counsel because they did not follow your instructions; you have the proof, not hearsay testimony on your case. This also includes a follow up letter, with the date and time, to any and all meetings and telephone conversations to document what has transpired, so you will have a record. It will help remind you 2 or 3 years later when you need to be specific in your time line of events. Also keep a copy for your own records of any letters, emails, or communications you may have. Just tell your attorney that this is your way to document things. It will also assist your attorney with a time line of your case.
          Some of the little tricks seasoned attorneys attempt to pull are very obvious. Your job is to watch how your attorney responds when you ask them to put together a plan or strategy prior to a case. You want them to notify you prior to hearings of any and all communications they may conduct with all parties involved with your case. Ask them to send a copy of any and all pleadings or responses. This should occur prior to your attorney filing orders with the court. Require them to do a face to face meeting prior to any court hearings or meetings, so you can discuss the plan of action.
          Make it clear to your attorney that you do not want any surprises in this case. Make sure your attorney responds to any and all pleadings that the opposing counsel may either file or respond to. This may protect your right to oppose their specific claims. Otherwise, you may waive your right to make any arguments, and they can obtain a default judgment and claim it is an agreed stipulated fact, due to your failure to respond or object to an issue or claim that was presented. Make sure your attorney files your responses within reasonable time. There are time limitations the court requires on pleadings and responses, and if you miss these time limitations or deadlines, you waive your right or may have to request either a continuance or a motion to file a pleading or response out of time. The court usually does not like this unless there is a sufficient reason that satisfies the court for your attorney’s tardiness on your pleadings or responses.
          If your attorney is not following your directives and cannot give you just cause or reasoning, and you make the decision to dismiss or fire your counsel or attorney, the court requires you to file a motion to dismiss your counsel. The law also states that every dispositive motion has to be accompanied with an affidavit in support of the dismissal. The affidavit is what you attach to your emails or letters to show or confirm that your attorney refused to do what you requested. Therefore this is no longer just allegations, as the court would make the claim, and this becomes a clear fact, pursuant to your Supreme Court Rules Discipline of Attorney’s, and your evidence.
          You have to feel comfortable with your attorney or counsel. You also have rights to know if they are selling you down the river. Make sure you and your attorney or counsels are on the same page prior to going to trial or a hearing. Make sure you know all the facts and arguments that will be discussed during the trial or hearing. Do not get hit with surprises at trial or hearings that you are unaware of. Know that you and your counsel have the same strategy or agendas, before you enter the courtroom. They will pull every dirty trick to win a case, believe me, I have been there.
            The problem with attorneys is, they keep forgetting who the servant is and who the master is. They forget they work for you! Their butts aren’t on the line, yours is! The only thing an attorney is for you - is a mouthpiece. We know that some attorneys lie, cheat, commit perjury, almost anything it takes to win a case. They will absolutely complicate a good case just to take your money. They can also place a case in an impossible hole that you may never dig out of; no matter how much money you spend.
         We have a legal system that is not bound by rules of conduct, unlike us, who are (I know they have cut down forests to show and tell us they are honorable and righteous people but the proof is right there!). We have found out it is the good old boy system. Those attorneys who are well known can get away with their mistakes, while others are sanctioned. The bar association picks and chooses who they want to sanction. We have attorneys who will lie, cheat, backdate, falsify documentation, and do things that are unbelievable. I have seen and witnessed these things that you swear would never happen in a court of law, then you begin to see the reality of the situation.
         I have personally witnessed attorneys take peoples money and then not do their job to protect their client’s best interest. This is ineffective counsel, for which they can be sued, or you can write a formal complaint to the Disciplinary Administrator for them to investigate. You as a client, can also monitor your own attorney and keep them from playing let’s make a deal, or even better yet, selling you down the river. It is important to know where you stand with the attorney you hire. It is also important that your attorney does not take you for a stupid individual, or a sucker for cash. If your attorney understands that you can do the legal research and assist them, they will treat you more as a client than as an idiot. If you are doing a motion pro se [by yourself], keep all the research on a disk so your attorney can review the document later. This will help you if you proceed to a higher court and you have to go back and argue an issue that you did before and you need better clarification or assistance.
         I cannot tell you enough to be prepared, to keep on your attorney, to stay ahead in your research. This will teach you the legal knowledge, and how to craft your own legal documents, as attorney’s do. The courts and the lawyers will have better respect for you. I have followed the rules in each court. I have pissed off attorneys and judges, but it couldn’t have happened to a nicer group of individuals. They will attempt to take shortcuts, but be prepared to catch the shortcuts and file your objections on those shortcuts, and your attorney will know better than to do it again. When they tell you that knowledge is power, they are correct, especially in a court of law. To know is to grow in prosperity. Also, do not be bashful; teach others the same knowledge, because you have to share the knowledge with others who need the help. Do not let the chain stop with you, pass it on. Attorneys and courts do not want you or others to understand, make others understand the same. The feeling you get for helping others is unbelievable. Explain the system to others, as we have done in this book, so that they can see the reality of the situation. Do not let others get sucked into the legal system without assistance, because now, you are your brother’s keeper, and this burden is placed upon you to carry the torch of life, liberty, and the pursuit of equality and justice.
            Educate those unfamiliar with the illegal system, so called our justice system, to protect those caught up in it and the pain and suffering they have gone through, so that these political idiots cannot profit anymore off of those who are suffering. I don’t see attorneys out here aiding others in their efforts, unless they make a profit, or they want to get your name in a law journal and change laws for publicity. Yes, I know they will tell me they handle charity cases and do it pro bono. You’re a lawyer for God’s sake; you either collect in the end or get paid by the court for this, but, don’t feed me this line that you are going to take on the whole legal system, when you are trained and conditioned by the bar association, to protect the so called legal interest, which the rest of us know is a game. You are not going to convince me that you are in it for the principles of interest rather than the money. You would be either a broke attorney, or a sanctioned attorney, by your so called colleagues for putting this in your legal documentation. Or protecting your client’s best interest just to “CYA”. Tell me I am wrong? I can show you otherwise.
         Now, I am almost sure there will be opposition to my book from the lawyers, but the average American has a right to know these things, and I have a right to give the Americans some insight to these ideas and experiences. The Legal game is a façade to deceive you into believing that we can obtain justice in our communities and state. People do not fool yourselves, this only applies to the rich or if you know the game, for the average american it takes a long time to figure this all out. Unless you are like us, or you get caught up in a situation, you can’t begin to realize how the legal system only works for those who are licensed to practice law, or are currently rich and can afford a good attorney to buy them justice. O.J. anybody?

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