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HABITAT

REDUCING LEGAL FEES, P.2

Reducing Legal Fees, p.2

 

 

6. Beware of Purchase Applications with Pictures

Do not permit your managing agent to accept any purchase application containing the buyer's picture and do not schedule an interview until the board is satisfied with the application. The reason for this is simple: The board cannot be accused of discrimination if it does not know that the applicant is a member of a protected class. It may not end the discussion when the discrimination complaint is filed, but knowing that information will not be helpful to your case, either.

7. Use Junior Partners, Associates and Paralegals

Although you hired your law firm because of a certain partner's name or reputation, you can obtain the benefit of that experience without having to pay the exorbitant hourly rates that some well-known attorneys charge. The senior attorney is responsible for everything that happens in the relationship and he or she monitors the junior partners, associates and paralegals, so why pay extra? I am regularly asked to handle routine matters and the client gets insulted when I suggest that someone junior handle it — but the junior person will do a better job at a lower cost. Take advantage of that.

8. Not Every Principle Is Worth Litigating Over

Every lawyer has clients and potential clients who approach him/her with a case that has to be fought over an issue of principle. Those turn out to be horrible experiences because clients can become irrational over the principle — and tens of thousands of dollars later, realizes that the lawsuit was a mistake.

Lawyers make money representing clients, so if your lawyer is attempting to dissuade you from bringing a lawsuit, perhaps you should listen. Most of us will bring a lawsuit if the client insists, but we try to talk them out of it first.

The most glaring example of this happened to me about 15 years ago, when board members wanted to bring an action against a sponsor. I explained in great detail why it was a mistake. The board responded by finding a lawyer who brought the case on their behalf. However, eight months later, the board asked me to return and run its annual meeting because none of the board members wanted to attend or run again. It seemed that in the preceding eight months, the board's new counsel had blown through $250,000 and not only lost a motion, but had to pay the sponsor's legal fees because of the frivolous nature of the action.

9. Don't Litigate Based on Judge Judy

I cannot count the number of times I have had clients decide to proceed with litigation because they knew that once they appeared before the judge and explained the situation — as on TV's Judge Judy — the judge would side with them and they would win the case.

Notwithstanding all the television shows about lawyers, no one appears before the judge the day after bringing the case, and trials, when they do occur, can last five years and cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Moreover, in most instances, the other side also wants to tell the judge its side of the story.

Judge Judy does not hold trials in any of the New York courts. Moreover, if you ever do get in front of the judge, he or she is going to be guided by the law rather than your tale of woe.

10. Blame the Lawyer

This is not what you think. We will give you good solid advice, which may not be what you want to hear, and then you might not want to follow it because it might make you look weak or vacillating. In those instances, just say that you wanted to be tough and fight for truth, justice and the American Way, but the lawyer would not let you.

Regularly, I have had board members who knew that if they took a certain action, they would have a problem, but they did not want to have to answer a great many questions. My stock answer is telling them to say that the lawyer will not let you discuss the matter.

 

Stuart Saft is a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf.

Adapted from Habitat November 2006. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>

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