I Was Wrong

Sometimes, you're wrong.  When you are, you just need to admit it.  We're not always right here in the Trenches.  We advise our clients the best we can, based on the law, the judges, and therefore, the probable outcome.  Usually, we're right, but occasionally, we're not.  Recently, I had a relocation case.  Now, those of us here in the Trenches know that relocation cases are some of the hardest cases to win.  They represent change for the children, and when the children are doing well, why change it?  There needs to be a compelling reason to move with the children.  In this case, there was, but I wasn't at all certain the court would agree.  The child's attorney didn't think the move was a good idea, so we were going into court with the child's attorney and the other parent against us, in a case where the court is reluctant to allow a move.  I thought there was a really good chance we would lose.  I told my client.  I advised her to settle.  She thanked me for my advice and told me settlement was not an option.  So, I shifted gears and poured everything I had into presenting the best case possible for her, setting forth the most compelling argument for a move, all the while telling her not to get her hopes up.  Well......you guessed it - we won.   Yes, we won.  I still pinch myself.  I apologized to my client for being wrong, for urging her to settle.  Then she said (and this is why she is one of my favorite clients), it's OK.  You gave me the best advice you could have under the circumstances, and I took a risk not taking it.  Then she thanked me for hearing her, embracing her cause and barrelling in there like a bull in a china shop to win her case, for putting aside that I did not agree with her and advocating for her cause as if it were the only right position.  That's my job, it's what my clients deserve and it's what we do here in the Trenches.