Sure, You Can Have It, But Is It Really What You Want?

I've spent a couple of weeks being the reality check for clients.  I take that back.  I have not been a reality check as much as I've been the interpreter between the real world and the judiciary.  I've settled 3 cases in the last two weeks.  I wish I could say my clients were wonderfully thrilled with the results at the time, but it's human nature to think that if they had gone to court, a judge would see things their way.  It so rarely happens.  At any rate, all of this started me thinking about what it is we do here in the Trenches, and what it means to represent our client's interests.
As I've said time and again, the first thing we try to do is distill what our clients tell us about where they've been and where they want to go into specific needs and wants.  Sometimes they want the house, and sometimes what they want is stability for themselves and their families.  Sometimes they want the pension, and sometimes they want to know they won't be eating Alpo in their twilight years.  At times, it's easy to decipher their wants and needs from what they say, and other times, we only get it partially right.  We keep trying.
In order to advise our clients best, we gather information.  Lots of information.  Some of it seems redundant.  Some of it feels less than useful.  We need it, and not just to cover our rear sides.  We need to see where this family has been in the past, what kinds of choices they made.  We need to learn the bargains the spouses had with each other, whether they felt like choices or dictates.  Did they live beyond their means or within them?  Have their fortune always been the way they are, or did something happen along the way to change them?  Are they risk takers?  We find all that and more from the information we gather.  We also find out the same about their spouses.
Then, we distill the information in order to advise our clients about their best course of action.  This is where the real art of the Trenches comes into play.  We have to assess whether what they tell us they want is reasonable and realistic.  Can it happen, and if so, what will it take to effectuate?  Does what we've learned about their spouse make us believe these folks can agree on that course of action?  We need to use our knowledge of the particular court in which we would be appearing would decide the case.  Do these facts play well in Peoria?  Will strict application of the law give our client what they want (the answer, by the way, is usually "no")?  Will our client come across well on the witness stand?  Can they express themselves in a way that feels genuine and sympathetic?  Will they hold up under the other side's questioning?  Can they sit in a courtroom and hear testimony that is not favorable to them?   Throughout the time our client is in the Trenches, we are assessing these factors and advising the client.  Unfortunately, because of the emotionality of the Trenches, sometimes our clients are not able to hear us.  They become entrenched, so to speak, in their story and their position.  They become convinced that despite what we've told them, the court will see the rightness of their cause and decide to give them everything they want.  Certainly, the court may decide in their favor, but rarely will they get everything they want.  Isn't it better to get most of what a client wants or what is most important to them, rather than win the case but not get the thing that matters most?  That last piece is the rub - here in the Trenches.