Without stupid people....

Sometimes you just can't save people from themselves.  Sure, you can try; but ultimately, people who are bent on self-destruction will succeed.  Take today for example.  We had an agreement in place concerning child access.  The parents agreed to a psychological evaluation, followed by a hearing to determine a change, if any, in access.  The evaluation did not turn out well for one of the parents, and as a result, the child's attorney was going to recommend that parent's access be curtailed until the merits trial in 2 months.  The attorney for that parent knew: 1) A mutually agreed up evaluation carries a lot of weight; 2) The position of the child's attorney is given a lot of deference; 3) Everyone would agree to the status quo, and it would buy time for his client to be rehabilitated.  What did he do as a result?  Advocated that the status quo remain for the next two months, and that the parent will do what was recommended by the evaluator in the meantime.  The right call; the right position to take.  So, what happened?  Both parents agreed on the record, were questioned, ad nauseum about their understanding of the agreement and their agreement.  Sounds good, right?  That's because you don't know what happened next.  Not 3 minutes after putting that agreement on the record, the parent whose evaluation did not turn out too well attempted to reneg on the agreement and launched into a diatribe about why the other parent's access should be curtailed.    Did I mention all of this was being recorded?  The custody case for that parent - finished.  All because that parent didn't listen to their attorney.
Why hire an attorney if you aren't going to follow our advice?  This is what we do for a living.  It's what our education and training prepare us to do.  It's not our lives, so we are able to retain a certain level of detachment, and therefore, analyze and strategize the situation.  Part of our job is to save you from yourself at a time when you're too emotional to think straight.  That's why you hired us.  Follow the advice, or fire the attorney, but don't freelance on the day of trial.