Money, Actually - A Rant

Dear Client;

Contrary to popular opinion, all lawyers are not rich.  Yes, we charge a lot of money per hour.  You hired us for our knowledge, our analytical skills, our experience, our negotiation and litigation skills, among other things.  We work hard for what we earn:  we analyze, review, negotiate, prepare, draft, position, and worry.  Yes, worry about you.  We think about your case when we wake up, when we're in the shower, when we drive to work, when we go to sleep. Sometimes your case stops us from getting any sleep.  In some cases, we care about your case more than do you (even though we tell ourselves we won't).  All we ask is that you do what we ask you to do, and that you pay us.  That's right, pay us.  It's not the reason we do the job (and those of you who read this blog regularly know that), but we can't pay our staff, all the expenses of our office and our mortgages if you don't.  We don't have that many clients.  The ones we have take up all of our billable time a month.  Some of them struggle mightily to pay us, and when they struggle, we work with them to pay.  Unfortunately, some of you who have the money to pay us for our expertise seem to think it's OK not to pay us in full, that even though you have the money in the bank, we should be your free banker.   You're also the same folks who can't understand why I drive a 10 year old car, because heaven knows, you pay us enough money.  I drive a 10 year old car because I have to pay all of my office expenses and my staff before I pay me, and then I need to pay to keep a roof over my head and food on my table before I buy a new vehicle.  When folks don't pay me in full, a new car is a luxury I can't afford.   Working with those clients who really struggle to pay us (but nevertheless pay us regularly) also becomes something we can't afford.   Funny thing is, it's the people who can't stop fighting with each other who do this, not the folks who really want to move forward with their lives.  They're the ones who keep on fighting, but don't want to pay for it, as if somehow their fight is our financial responsibility.  Really?   Thank goodness most of our clients are decent, honest, hard working people who see the value in what we do, appreciate the financial breaks we give them, and pay us, even if they have to find alternative funding sources.  It's the few bad apples that just frost our cadoozle.  Rant over.