No Vacation for My Lawyer
I know I have ranted before about client's not wanting to pay for their legal services which have already been rendered. I continually ask them if their own employers argued with them before they got their paychecks each week, however the concept continues to allude those in divorce who feel their divorce attorney is an entitlement and doesn't need to be paid by them once an action has started and an initial retainer has run out. This week a new wrinkle was added to this rant of "why do I have to pay you when I don't have the money." It is the statement that how dare I take a vacation when my client can't even remember the last time she had one and how nice it is to be me!

Can anyone ever recall telling their surgeon that he has no business taking a vacation when his patient needs an operation or do we all just schedule our surgeries around his schedule? I know that two of my children were delivered early to accommodate my doctor's schedule and I was alright with that.

For the first time in my career I was asked to justify my vacation to a client who didn't want to pay me for the balance of the work I had done for her. Beside the fact that she got an excellent deal, which she will not realize for at least a few years down the road, her legal bill was not astronomical compared to what her husband paid his attorney and her matter is all but finished. Still she ranted about my horrible staff(I hope someday she needs another lawyer and hires someone else so she can experience a horrible staff)my mean partner who had the audacity to ask her to pay her bill from monies we were holding on her behalf and blasted me for not calling her myself while chastising me for taking a vacation!

Well hear this all new and potential clients; I expect to get paid for my services in a timely manner. If you can't pay me, find another lawyer. If you are unhappy with my representation, find another lawyer. If you are unhappy with my staff, find another lawyer. If you feel your attorney should not take vacations if you cannot afford to take one, find another lawyer.