When the
United States became a nation, lawyers were the most respected profession. That we are not anymore has at least as much
to do with the society in which we live as it has to do with lawyers. I was taught in college, in the 1980s, the
United States continuously expects annual growth at a rate that has never
happened in human history, better, bigger, more, gimme, gimme more. We have not achieved the growth they
anticipated in the late 1980s.
Republicans
rile up the masses to protect doctors from their mistakes that kill and
seriously injure people, by invoking fear, “Protect your doctors, or you might
lose ‘em Do not let the government take
away your choice.” Images are conjured
of the doctor in Little House on the Prairie or Gunsmoke, with a complete
failure to recognize most doctors work for corporations, for which they
generate profit or revenue. I am not saying
your doctor doesn’t like you. I am
saying you are one of the many and the amount you, as an individual, pay the corporation
is near meaningless. There is a good
chance your doctor is more concerned with how many patients he sees in a day
and how quickly, or how many surgeries he performs in a month. Some doctors also really excite to pharmaceutical
and surgical equipment promotions. “Doc,
wanna go to the Super Bowl?” “I’m sorry Doc,
you didn’t perform enough surgeries to win the Super Bowl tickets, how about
taking the family to Cancun for Spring Break?” Does this offend you? Would you excite to it?
A teacher hates
her job. She has to teach curriculum with
the goal her students do well on tests.
The administration does nothing about behavior issues and she is not
allowed to do anything either. She has
over 10 years in and many years before she retires. If she quits she loses her pension.
A lawyer is
happy with the number of divorce cases she signed up last month, most ever. It was a goal. Know how you sign up more divorces? Tell ‘em what they wanna hear. “Hire me, I’ll get you everything.” Maybe the client will be lucky and the lawyer
will make him or her happy, especially if the client’s expectations are reasonable
to low.
One of my
goals is to leave clients better off than they would be without me. I have declined divorce cases.
A long-time
client and her husband agree to divorce.
They want me to do it. I know their
financial situation and the needs of their household and large family. I tell them no. I am asked if I realize they will hire
another lawyer. I’m fine with that. Several months later I see wife and ask about
the divorce. They are not in a financial
position to get divorced. I’m glad they
consulted with a professional.
I am walking
out of an electronics store when I am stopped by a friend who works for a big
box carrier. “Mrs. Lindquist, I need to schedule
an appointment at your office. I need to
get divorced. My wife cheated on
me.” I am so sorry. I know you have a couple little kids, own a
house, have a pension and work a lot of hours.
Before we meet, think about what you want. Is your wife going to stay in the house with the
kids? Is there any equity in your house? Do you want to think about something like
keeping your pension and giving her the house?
We need to compare values. How often
are you going to see your children? It’s
sad you won’t get to be in the same house with them anymore but OMG, your wife
cheated on you, with all you do for your family? Let’s get her. He never came in. I ran into him months later. “Mrs. Lindquist, I thought about what you
said. I was working a lot, and not
paying attention to my wife. I love my
wife and children. We started going to
counseling and church, we are better.”
That was 20 years ago. He is
retired. His children are grown. He is still married.
Professionals
are not what they were because society is not what it was. We have an insatiable appetite, an inability
to delay gratification and greed constantly demanding more, more, more. How does that end? Oh, fish in the sea, come listen to me.
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