Client — #2

By Robert Buschel

“Don’t smoke. . . ,” the avuncular voice resonated inside the young lawyer’s mind.

“That’s some strange deathbed advice from a friend of the family. He was an elder notable lawyer. And, his advice was dead-on correct. But why don’t smoke? He knew I didn’t smoke,” the young lawyer said to himself.

It seemed like strange advice. This young lawyer was passionate and pure. He ate right, he dressed right, and he spoke right. His future was bright. He was a litigator who worked hard on his cases. And, he even went to trial when it was necessary, if it was in his client’s interest. He sacrificed weekends and evenings to get it right, for his clients. He cared. He followed his mentor’s other’s advice such as, “Always put your client first.”

When it was about the lack of procedure, he emphasized procedure. When the law was in his client’s favor, he pounded on the law. When the facts were in his client’s favor, he accentuated the facts. The young lawyer’s reputation grew. He grew into the go-to lawyer. A lawyer that you hope would take your case. It wasn’t about the money; but, he got paid.

Then he appeared in a case of note. The community became interested. A young journalist in the community took the young lawyer to lunch. The outside community became interested in the case. The same journalist then had him for dinner. When that happened, the young lawyer’s mentor exclaimed, “Don’t smoke . . . the pipe.” This warning evoked more curiosity. What pipe? “I don’t have a pipe. I don’t smoke,” the young lawyer thought. “Is he losing his mind? I don’t even drink to excess.”

The case grew in notoriety. The young lawyer’s girlfriend forbade him to have another dinner with the journalist. “All she wants is access to you. All you are is a fungible token to her. Once the case is over, she won’t return your texts,” his girlfriend said. The young lawyer thought his girlfriend was jealous. He, after all was a tremendous lawyer, who journalists wanted to interview, not only on his case, but on other cases. He was a voice in the legal community.

The young lawyer and the journalist had that second dinner at her home. And, he thought it best after that dinner to break up with his girlfriend. After all, her advice was holding him back. He, destined for greatness, did not need to hear the limiting words of mediocrity. He was not fungible. He was part of the story. “I should be with a woman who is going to be something spectacular. I should marry a judge,” he thought. “I’m a front page lawyer.”

The young lawyer went to the bars and haunts of his work neighborhood. He mocked one of his colleagues who had not noted his fame. “Do you read the news? Do you tweet, tock, post?” He accused his colleague of being an illiterate caveman with no future. He would be a journeyman lawyer.

In bed, the young lawyer gave his most candid thoughts about his case to the journalist who paid rapt attention, so as not misquote him. “Mr. McBartelby lies like he breathes. His negligence knows no boundaries. I’m not sure if he was stupid or incompetent to the point that his acts should be considered intentional.” That quote made the front page. And in court the presiding judge wondered if the lawyer had read the local rules. But the young lawyer was undeterred. He was fighting for the case.

The young lawyer became the story. He was sued by McBartelby for defamation. McBartelby did not breathe and lie, and his acts were not intentional or even close. And now the young lawyer was a lawyer in need of a lawyer. The worst position a lawyer could be in.

“Don’t smoke . . .the media pipe.” This was the advice the young lawyer’s mentor clearly stated, but was not clearly heard. “Who wants to interview me now?” This is not a question a lawyer should ask himself. How distorted does a lawyer’s mind become from smoking the pipe? Intoxicated to the point he put his client’s interest number-two. Case dismissed.