Toxic Client. Garrett Sutton
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as a newly minted lawyer, I was keen on taking whatever walked in the door. And I thought there were a number of good reasons to do so: I needed the experience, I needed the work, and I was, at some level, kind of flattered that someone wanted me as their lawyer.
So when William Napoli walked in the door with a lease dispute, I was all ears. Unfortunately, I didn’t use my own ears as much as I should have.
William told me that his landlord had failed to make the necessary tenant improvements on his restaurant space. Because of this, William had been unable to continue operating his Italian restaurant—the restaurant that had been his lifelong goal and dream to open in the first place. He was forced to close the restaurant shortly thereafter, and the landlord was now suing William for the tenant improvements, back rent and other damages.
After listening to William and quickly reviewing the documents, I said I would need a $1,000 retainer against my then-hourly rate of $125. William said he could pay me $500 right away and would come up with the remaining $500 at the end of the week. He said he would pay his legal bill promptly.
Taking him at his word, I answered the landlord’s complaint as William’s attorney, thus making an appearance in the case.
In the next few months, I learned several important lessons. First, although William had promised he would pay the rest of the retainer and his legal bills, he did no such thing. In fact, I soon discovered that William had a history of not paying his bills.
I also learned that once you make an appearance in a case, a judge doesn’t have to let you out. When it became clear that my client wouldn’t pay for my services, I made a motion to the court asking for permission to withdraw myself as William’s attorney. Of course, preparing, filing, and arguing that motion constituted even more (unpaid) time for me.
Many judges routinely grant these motions. Many were in private practice themselves and had faced the same issues with some of their clients. But not every judge will grant a motion to withdraw. And in this case, my judge denied my motion. (I’ve always thought that the judge – like my dad – wanted to teach me a lesson.) As a result, I had to defend William, whether I got paid or not. And so I fulfilled my obligation and defended William to the best of my ability.
And for my efforts, I received only a meager $500, for all of it.
It was the best experience I could have ever had, really. Because that experience taught me that I really need to listen to what a client is saying. In fact, I need to listen to what’s between the lines of what the client is saying, too. William had actually told me everything I needed to know. Through what he’d said, and what he had conveniently left out, he had actually announced that he was a Toxic Client. I just hadn’t been paying attention, because I was so focused on getting a new client.
William had claimed that the landlord had failed to make the necessary improvements to his restaurant space. But if that was the case, why had he even opened the business in the first place? I didn’t ask that question then, but I would now. William said he had to close the restaurant shortly after opening it. Was it really because of the lack of improvements? Or could it have been his food? Or the fact that he didn’t pay his bills?
Asking for the client retainer was another listening opportunity.
When William balked at my retainer and indicated that he didn’t have the money, he was giving me a signal that he was only interested in what I could do for him, not in the value of my services. Perhaps he knew I had only recently gone into practice and thought he’d take advantage of my inexperience. Otherwise, he never would have come to an attorney’s office unprepared to pay for services.
You need to listen to how the client reacts to and deals with such a request. If he or she values your services and respects the fact that you can’t work for free, you will hear quite a different response than the one offered by a client, like William, who only wants to milk your skills because he desperately needs your help at that moment.
There are more than a few clients out there who believe that all lawyers are overpaid, and thus can afford to take a case at a reduced rate. And it’s not just attorneys that deal with it. This attitude prevails in all industries, among all professionals. Whether you’re a doctor, an engineer, a plumber, a hairstylist, a designer, or a house cleaner, you’re going to encounter clients who think you can absorb the loss of taking them on as a client, that you can afford to do the work for what they’re willing to pay, and, in some cases, that you’re lucky to get the work in the first place.
These types of clients not only will not pay you, but they will also create so many problems for you that they become what I call “tar babies”—sticky, messy bundles of problems from which it’s extremely difficult to extricate yourself. (We will deal with tar babies in Chapter Nine).
But if you are to succeed, the Toxic Client must be avoided. So listen carefully, because the Toxic Client might just announce himself to you.
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Lesson #1: If you listen well, the Toxic Client will tell you everything you need to know.
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Case No. 1: The Personal Trainer
Jeff Kerry seemed like he would be an ideal client for personal trainer Matthew Martinez. As chief officer of his family’s large engineering company, Kerry was well-heeled and could easily afford Martinez’s hourly rate. And since the wealthy talk to the wealthy, Martinez thought Kerry could prove to be a valuable source of referrals.
Kerry had been referred to Martinez, who was a regular trainer at the upscale tennis and health club where Kerry’s family had a membership. Kerry had asked the clerks at the desk for a male trainer, and the clerks had offered Martinez’s name. Martinez just happened to have an opening in his schedule, and he was one of the club’s most experienced trainers. Martinez had been training himself for 16 years, and he had been a personal trainer for five years, with certification from the International Sports Science Association.
Kerry contacted Martinez and immediately booked two one-hour sessions per week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. Right from the start, he proved to be a challenge and was full of complaints.
“He was awfully picky about the temperature in the gym,” Martinez says. “It was either too warm and stuffy, or too cold. I constantly had to open the door or adjust the thermostat.”
Then there was the hour of his appointment, which seemed to always be inconvenient. “He didn’t want to stay in his spot,” Martinez remembers. “He’d show up late, and say, ‘Well, I need a later spot.’ I’d try to schedule him later, and then he’d say, ‘I want an early spot now.’”
Martinez got to talking with another client, one who knew Kerry personally. This client told Martinez that Kerry had a reputation for chiseling construction contractors on engineering jobs. He’d haggle over their invoices and never pay in full.
But this didn’t add up for Martinez. Kerry kept his family’s account current at the health club. The fifty-something business executive also seemed dedicated during his workouts. He wanted to build muscle, lose weight, and increase his flexibility, since Kerry was, as Martinez assessed, “stiff as a board.”
“The workouts weren’t bad,” Martinez recalls. “I could really hammer him. He had a lot of pride and didn’t want to look weak. He wanted to be pushed. Push-ups, sit-ups, bench press, squats, lots of stretches. Every once in a while we’d talk about his business, the engineering projects and stuff like that. But he was not a man of a whole lot of words. He came in, did is thing, complained, and left.”
Then, one day after six months of twice-a-week workouts, Kerry was a no-show. Martinez stood around waiting at the appointed hour.
There had been no advance phone call from Kerry to cancel or reschedule, nor was there a follow-up call explaining why he’d missed. Martinez called Kerry’s cell phone, but only got the voicemail. Martinez left a message, but did not hear back.
At the next scheduled workout session, Kerry was absent again.
Martinez