The Rhode Island Divorce Coach Responds about Angry Client and their Family!

As a Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer I have had the privilege of representing many men and women before the Family Courts of our state. I have taken pride in the oath I took the day I was sworn in as an officer of the court and afforded the privilege of practicing law and representing people in the courts of our state honorably, morally and ethically.

On September 10, 2009, I woke up and discovered a posting in the legal section of Craig'sList.org. The posting about me as Rhode Island's Most Affordable Divorce Lawyer looked exactly like this.

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ATTORNEY CHRIS PEARSALL (RIS MOST AFFORDABLE FAMILY ATTY) IS A THIEF!! (RI)

Date: 2009-09-09, 10:27AM EDT
Reply to: serv-3qan4-1365594341@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

He took literally thousands of dollars from my sister and my family and did NOTHING for her!!!

She went to him desperate for legal help and he robbed her!

SHOULD HAVE JUST HELD A GUN TO US CHRIS!

KARMA IS A BITCH AND HOPEFULLY IT WILL FIND YOU!!

STAY AWAY FROM THIS THIEF!!!

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Due to Attorney/Client privilege and the importance of that privacy I cannot and will not address the circumstances surrounding this family law case.

For those who know me, or take the time to know me, they know that this disgruntled person's statement is not (nor could it ever be) the truth.

I started out in my 20's in a Catholic Seminary in Upstate New York. I spent most of my days in classes, most of my weekends helping in nursing homes, working with handicapped individuals, acting as a Big Brother and working to keep kids off the street by working in the Boys Club of America Programs to keep kids out of drugs and gangs and get them off the street.

I left the seminary even after being asked to stay by the seminary director. This was a personal choice because, among other things, I realized I wanted to be a father and have children of my own some day. Yet those earlier years have formed me in to the gentleman and caring person I am today. Sometimes I have been too caring, so much so that the amount of unpaid legal work I have done for people far exceeds the income I have earned in any given year.

Contrary to what people may think, all lawyers are not overpriced and ready to line their pockets with your hard earned money. There are a good many of us who care about our clients, undercharge our clients and some of us who simply are never paid by our clients. I have seen good lawyers go bankrupt or end up in divorce court because they won't take client's to court to collect the fees for their services and their spouses just don't agree with that level of generosity or believe in the goodness of human nature.

I have no desire to attack the individual who wrote the Craig'sList posting. However, I do believe it is important to address misunderstandings that client's develop because they sometimes do not hear what is said or interpret an optimistic approach to a case as if it is a guarantee of a result they are looking for.

Lawyers cannot guarantee a result in any judicial proceeding. I have never guaranteed a result with any client nor will I ever do so because it is not morally right to guarantee anything that is not within my control.

As clients, you engage attorneys with the goal that the attorney will undertake work to try to achieve a certain result for you if it is possible. Even if the goal is not achieved (or cannot be achieved), when the lawyer has done the work and you have agreed to compensate the lawyer, then the lawyer is entitled to be compensated.

Consider this Analogy!

Imagine that you work in an automotive garage as a mechanic. You get paid when you do the work on the cars. Your job is to try to repair the cars and trucks that come in to the shop all week long. Some cars simply cannot be repaired either due to a lack of available parts or a broken chassis system, etc....

One day a lady comes in with her brother. There is a clunking noise in the car after the last mechanic at another shop did his best to fix the car. The lady wants this car to be fixed and she just can't be without "this" car for sentimental reasons. The lady pre-authorizes you to work up to 20 hours on her car.

As the mechanic you are entrusted to try to fix the lady's car by process of elimination to find out what the clunking noise is in the car and try to fix it.

First, you let the customer know what you think the most likely approach is. Then, you take your time and effort to work on the car while the customer waits for your call at home.

Let's say that you do four (4) hours of work but the clunking sound is still there. You let the customer know that the first approach didn't work so you are going to take your approach and you let the customer know about it. You call the lady to let her know you are going to try the next thing you believe may be causing the clunking sound and that you'll go about approaching it that way.

After the customer is informed and you go ahead and try the second approach. Another day later the car has had two days worth of work put into it but the clunking noise is still present. This goes on for another few days as you try several more approaches and get deeper and deeper into the car. You need four (4) parts for one of the repairs but the lady can only afford two (2) parts so you have to do your best with two (2) instead of all four (4) that you believe are needed. During all this time the customer has left the car with you and hasn't come back in because you haven't told her that you've fixed her car.

Finally, after 20 hours of work you realize see a small crack in the frame of the car in a very bad location. The car cannot be fixed so that it is driveable again. You explain that it might have been fixable by the first mechanic but it is too late at this point. The lady is aware of the bad news.

Even though you have put 20 hours of work into the car and you are able to show the lady a detailed bill . . . the lady does not believe that you worked on the car for 20 hours and she wants her money back and doesn't believe you should be paid because you didn't do anything for her.

If you were the mechanic who did the 20 hours of work, should you still be paid for your time and skill trying to repair a car that you discovered could not be repaired? As a mechanic should you only get paid if you were able to fix the car to the lady's satisfaction?

Mechanics don't get paid only if they get the result you want, they get paid for their skill and the work they do. Do you see everything they did? Of course not. Would it be fair to the mechanic to deprive him of the compensation for his work just because you didn't see it? Once again the answer is obvious....of course not.

Now imagine that the lady and her family are very upset about the lady losing her sentimental car because the mechanic couldn't fix the car. So they tell everyone that the mechanic and his garage are a bunch of thieves and crooks.

Should it be any different for a family lawyer or any other lawyer for that matter? It shouldn't, right!

As most business people do, I've had a few clients who were not happy about the results. The client wanted certain results and didn't get them. Voila' . . . unhappy client! As unfortunate as it is, I have found that the typical response seems to be that as a lawyer out to screw everyone over it must be my fault.

I've had more than my share of sleepless nights preparing for hearings and trials that meant a lot to my client and consequently to me as well. When I'm unable to achieve the results my client wants I'm disappointed as well. Happy clients are more likely to believe I am effective lawyer and refer people to me, it makes no sense in a small state such as Rhode Island that I would not do any work and keep someone's money.

I am and always have been an advocate for changing the attitude toward lawyers in Rhode Island by my actions and by my law practice so that people see that there are attorneys who are caring, have moral standards aren't interested in doing anything other than helping their clients to the best of their ability.

I am sorry that the person who wrote the posting on Craig's List finds the need to hurt me and my business when I truly do so much good for people in the area of family law.

If you are a client who is angry with your attorney either about the result or about your bill, please speak with your attorney directly, consider the analogy above, and re-think things before acting rashly.

My Best to Everyone in Your Family Law Matters,

Christopher A. Pearsall, Attorney-at-Law

Rhode Island Divorce and Family Law Coach*

Authored By:

Christopher A. Pearsall, Attorney-at-Law

Rhode Island's Most Affordable Full-Time Divorce* Lawyer is Now
Rhode Island's Only Full-Time Divorce Coach!!

Call (401) 632-6976 Now
and
Schedule Your Rhode Island Divorce* or Family Law* Coaching Session Now!

Copyright 2009. Christopher A. Pearsall, Esquire
A New Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer and Coach for a New Millenium!

* Rhode Island licenses all attorneys in the general practice of law.

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