What Type Of Client Is Not A Good Fit For You?

(The content below was transcribed from an interview done with Acacia Law. We think you'll find it much easier
and more enjoyable to read this way.)

Interviewer: Have you ever fired a client because they were stonewalling you or being uncooperative?

Acacia Law: Yes, I have. I will terminate services for a number of reasons. One reason is specifically if I feel the course of action they are taking is completely contradictory to what I think is appropriate for them. If we have a breakdown in communication, I will seek to withdraw from the case.

If I think they are trying to perpetrate a fraud on the court or on the state, and they will not clear up what I consider to be a fraudulent presentation, I will get off the case. Number one: They are just plain going to get caught. They all think they are smarter than the system. They are just not.

Number two: In my opinion, the worst thing you can do if you want to maintain your reputation and be in a position to negotiate intelligently with prosecutorsis put clients out there who are faking or fraudulent. Now you yourself are in a situation where you are, I feel, mocking the court. I know some lawyers do not agree with this but that is my opinion, at least.

You are really putting your client in a bind because if they are caught in their little game, they are going to get hammered by the court. Regarding your reputation, it makes you look bad to not stand up and say, "Hey, this is wrong. I do not want to be a part of it.”

A lot of times, I do not reveal what I think is either untrue or fraudulent. However, I will phrase the motion to withdraw in such a fashion that all I am saying is there is a conflict. There is an irreconcilable conflict between myself and the client.

I will not give up their confidence but I am not going to participate in it either. I am not going to participate in fraud.

Interviewer: Is that similar to the saying, “Good lawyers have good clients and bad lawyers have bad clients?”

Acacia Law: Yes, in a sense it is true. Again, what are the expectations? A client may come in and tell me how the case is going to be handled. If I cannot fix that by the end of our initial consultation, I let them go. I cut them loose. The bottom line is I cannot help somebody who already thinks he knows more than I do about what is in the best interest in the court of law in a criminal matter.