Practice Tip: Need a Will? Go Talk To a (Different) Lawyer
The lawyers who work in my office will sometimes share stories of friends or acquaintances who ask for assistance in areas of the law that are outside their expertise, like family law, trusts and estates, criminal law, or consumer bankruptcy. Their response to those requests is the same as mine usually is: “It sounds like you need to get a lawyer.” The same advice can be true for litigators who find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings because of a case in which they’ve become involved.
As a litigator, I spend a lot of time learning about subspecialties of different industries, like deep-hole drilling of industrial heat exchangers, proper operation of bovine slaughter and processing facilities, design of intake and outflow pipes for municipal water supplies, or proper construction of a latch bolt on a livestock trailer. This is one of the reasons that I love what I do. Learning the facts and background information necessary to understand, develop, and advocate my client’s case is both challenging and immensely rewarding.
Many cases, though, require additional expertise in an area of law rather than merely learning the facts of the matter. In those instances, to provide excellent representation, it can be necessary to obtain qualified and expert assistance. For instance, while I will happily and competently litigate an adverse possession case, I will also seek the assistance of a real estate transactional lawyer in drafting the easement negotiated to settle the matter. If a particular case calls for expertise in the worker’s compensation law and surrounding procedures, patent work, or trusts and estates, I will seek the assistance of those lawyers who work day in and day out in those fields.
While not everyone does, I have the luxury of finding those specialized lawyers in the same firm in which I practice. It is this kind of collaboration and willingness to recognize the limits of our experience that provides efficient, focused, and effective client service.
To be sure, there are many competent general practitioners out there who can represent a criminal client in the morning, draft a will at lunch, and argue a summary judgment motion in a legal malpractice case in the afternoon. I, however, am not one of them. In my mind, excellent representation is most often provided by those who practice in specific areas, keep up on the most current changes in those areas, and are knowledgeable about the details of the practice area.
