Page 116 - Cityview_July_August_2014

law: Don’t Wreck Your Check

In TG,
he odfaThertherefore cut the viewer an enormous
check on the spot.
mafioso don Corleone

tells his new legal consigliere, “a lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a such notorious firms, however, often

hundred men with guns.” although the don conflates legal and illegal monetary operate on the basis of what is known
transfers, he has a point: last year JPMorgan Chase reached a $13 billion settlement in the profession as case churning.

with the feds in a lawsuit brought about by the multinational bank’s mortgage prac- “that’s a bad business model,” says
tices. a gang of robbers would need more than 10,000 tv-sized boxes filled with knoxville attorney Chris Cain, of

$100 bills to haul off that much cash.
scott and Cain. “When your practice

becomes about the volume of cases,
then the client will be neglected. You few knoxvillians can hope in their suitors before signing on the dotted

are churning cases rather than working salaried lives to earn the per-hour line. those surveyed were more than
them and earning your fee.”
reward that courtroom victory can forthcoming in describing the gold-star

too much volume in a law firm entail. but not only is the courtroom
indicators of a first-rate firm as well
means the client’s interests will often a venue where a fortune can be won— as the red flags that should have you

be shuffled over to support staff, which because for every winner there must heading out the door. regardless of

is how the firm can cut costs versus
also be a loser. although solid profes- advertisement hype, what you should
its competition. Cain warns, “it’s a
sional legal advice may seem expensive, look for has nothing to do with crass

red flag when you are always dealing the outlay is hard to match for value catchphrases, tough-guy imagery, or
with other people, rather than with the returned on investment.
oafish props.

attorney. You ought to be able to talk to Consequently, it pays to hire the
The Ugly
your lawyer when you need to talk to best counsel available, especially when
your lawyer.”
you are the plaintiff in a civil lawsuit. tv advertising has had, ironically, a

t. scott Jones, of banks and Jones, Whereas for other legal actions attor- negative impact on public perception of
adds, “a law license is a privilege, so neys will offer flat fees or hourly rates, the legal profession. as professionals,

act like a professional. it’s offensive to in almost all cases involving a monetary attorneys seldom advertised histori-

me when i see lawyers who make it all settlement—from personal injury to cally and were often prohibited from
about money and forget their responsi- worker’s compensation—a firm charges doing so by state bars or other regula-

bility to their client and the public.”
on a contingency basis, with little dif- tions. in 1977, however, the supreme
Cain says that he often asks his cli- ferentiation among reputable firms as Court ruled that such restrictions

ents to perform some of the “leg work” to the fee structure. as bob Pryor of violated the first amendment, and the
themselves, rather than let his office
Pryor, flynn, Priest, and harber says, highway of ever-present “ambulance

do it and then bill them for it: “it’s a lot “the good thing about a contingency chasers” promising quick bucks opened

easier and less costly for you to get cop- fee agreement is the client can always for business.
ies of your medical records and send be confident the lawyer will try to besides upholding the first amend-

them to me than for me to do it.”
maximize the recovery.”
ment, supporters of the court’s decision
You have a higher probability of win- believed that allowing attorneys to

The Bad
ning, however, the better the legal team advertise would open up, for example,

Cityview obtained a copy of the you field, so it only makes sense to have attorney price and performance to
“Client information Contract” that
the strongest team possible. the ques- shopper comparison. Yet in terms of

one area law firm with a reputation
tion for the first-time litigant is how to television advertising at least, few law
for churning uses and then reviewed it determine who that team is for your firms inform consumers of their fee

with bruce fox, of fox and farley. fox particular case.
structure or courtroom record. instead,

has practiced law in the east tennessee Cityview surveyed several civil-liti- these ads often promote the ugly
area for nearly 40 years. looking the gation attorneys to assess the current misconception that the most effective

contract over, he describes its esca- legal market in the knoxville area and attorney is the dark-suited, sunglasses-
lating fee structure as “malfeasance, also asked them how potential clients wearing fixer, who helicopters to the

almost on the level of malpractice.”
should evaluate their civil-attorney
scene, settles a case quickly, and can

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cityviewmag.com july august 2014