06.23.07
Getting Fired Is Not Fun
Look, I know, I have already broken my promise by not writing yesterday. I apologize. I suck.
Anyway. I got fired by a client for the first time this week. And even though I knew it was coming (he had fired every other lawyer he has ever been appointed and brought lawsuits against judges, jails, etc)…it still sucked. To have a client announce in open court that he is “completely unsatisfied with counsel” just blows, even knowing that I worked my butt off on his case and was expecting to get fired far in advance of actually being so. The worst part was knowing that I had other clients sitting in the audience - I know the judge knows I work hard and that I am a good lawyer, I know the other lawyers know I work hard and that I am a good lawyer. But my other clients - even knowing that I have worked hard and been a good lawyer to them - are the most likely to take a firing and such proclamation in court to heart. And I didn’t want them to lose faith in me or to resort to any perception that public defenders are not “real” lawyers. Luckily, these particular clients did not.
But man, it still sucks to be fired. And this is the first time of many, I’m sure.
Donzell said,
June 24, 2007 at 11:05 am
Don’t worry about it. Eventually, you come to love when clients tell you that they want to fire you. All kidding aside, just document everything you do to protect yourself.
Public Defender Stuff » Getting fired is not fun said,
June 25, 2007 at 7:12 am
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Collier said,
June 25, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Sometimes it works out for the best. One less crappy client to deal with. Sometimes there is the cruel satisfaction that after his/her trial they got more that you had been offered in a deal. 92 years v. 80 years for example. I cannot save them all I tell myself not really wanting that to be so.