> Do you not believe that lawyers are brilliant at motivating their
> clients
> into action?
>
> "I am outraged!" -- Jackie Chiles
I can't tell if you're pulling my leg. Assuming you're not, and
assuming you're talking about civil litigation only, I'd generally
say no, except in the case of naive people who are bent on revenge or
picking up a fast buck. Usually such people are either pretty much
self-motivated, or they're the kind who'll believe anything they see
on TV. My own experience is that the civil courts are a rotten way to
settle grievances, and I've heard some attorneys say this as well.
It's expensive, complicated, easily manipulated and takes too much
time. Anyone who's ever been through a civil suit probably knows this
already, and probably never wants to do it again.
A lot of people share the same prejudice against litigation and
lawyers that engineers do, until they find themselves in a jam. They
rant about the abandonment of the search for justice and truth,
(usually citing the OJ trial as the as the case in point) until
they're facing (say) DWI charges. Then it's time to find the slickest
lawyer in town and 'truth and justice be damned--get me off the hook.'
Parenthetically, I've found that small-claims court (called
conciliation court in Minnesota) is an excellent way to settle the
usual consumer claims or non-payment of bills. It's a good deal less
adversarial and not so rigidly preoccupied with procedure.
Christopher Wright P.E. |"They couldn't hit an elephant at
chrisw@skypoint.com | this distance" (last words of Gen.
.......................................| John Sedgwick, Spotsylvania
1864)
http://www.skypoint.com/members/chrisw/
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