Dear Miss Manners

Remember that yesterday we talked about the most important people in the courthouse?  Today, we'll talk about the most important people in a law office, or at least in my law office (and in the offices of most folks here in the Trenches who I respect and admire).  If you learned anything yesterday, you know that I am not one of those people.  So why do so many clients not know that?  I cannot tell you the number of clients who have called the office and talked to someone other than me, and been REALLY rude and nasty.  One client even made them cry.  Yes, I said "cry."  That same person was never anything other than nice to me.  I fired that client.  The people who work for and with me are very important to me.  They, like the folks who work at the courthouse, can't talk back to the clients, can't tell the clients off when they're mean, and can't defend themselves when clients are unnecessarily mean.  The Trenches is a customer service business, and the folks who work for the lawyers are the customer service representatives, and the clients are the customers.  They have to take it.  They don't have to take it in silence; and they don't - they tell me.  I own the store.  I decide what clients I take, and what clients I keep.  I may take you as a client, but if you are rude, mean, or gratuitously nasty to the people I hire, I won't keep you.  You can count on it.