Morris D. Rosen, Esquire
There are many things I will remain grateful to my former father-in-law, Morris D. Rosen, for. Morris was truly a “lawyer’s lawyer” and introduced me a rarefied practice of law in Charleston I never would have known without knowing him. My son’s frustrations as a new lawyer reminded me of an important lesson Morris taught me when I worked for him as a summer law clerk.
My son called me recently on his way to the bank to deposit a large settlement check from an automobile accident case. I invited him over to celebrate his good fortune but he had other ideas that didn’t include siting around talking law with an old, retired lawyer.
Logan called me again the next day upset about his client wanting more money. Logan explained to the client he’d gotten all the insurance money there was to get. Then the client brazenly wanted Logan to cut his fee so he’d get more money. Logan explained his client had signed the contract of representation agreeing to his fee and signed the settlement statement itemizing the breakdown of the settlement. The client finally wanted Logan to stiff his ERISA health insurance company and not honor their medical lien so he’ could get more money that way. Logan said he’d be glad to try and negotiate the lien down but he couldn’t just ignore a statutory lien. I gather the conversation ended with the client bad mouthing all the good work Logan had done achieving the sizable settlement in the first place leaving Logan with hurt feelings about the things his ungrateful client had said. He stopped by on his way home to commiserate and I thought it was time to teach him a lesson Morris Rosen taught me long ago.
I asked him, “Didn’t anybody ever tell you about the “client satisfaction curve?” My look of puzzlement told him no one had. He sat me down at the long conference table in his library, sat next to me, and took out his yellow legal pad as he proceeded to draw a wave like curve on the paper. He placed his pencil at the bottom of first trough before the first wave and said, “This is where your client starts out on the satisfaction curve having gotten himself sued, arrested, seriously injured, or caught cheating on his wife. He feels fate and the whole world has turned against him.” Then he moved his pencil up the back side of the first wave, and continued, “Then you come along and give him hope that your knowledge and skills as a lawyer will be his salvation.” The top of the first wave he explained occurs on the day you get hired but then his pencil traced the slope line downward again as he said, “Every case has its problems. It turns out your client wasn’t quite as truthful as you’d hoped he’d been. Pesky facts keep popping up that throw a wrench into your carefully crafted theory of liability. Maybe you draw a take no prisoners defense counsel or a mean, defense oriented judge. There’s a million reasons your client starts to doubt your ability to save his ass.” The curve hit bottom but Morris continued and his pencil started back up the second wave. Morris continued, “But you’re a good lawyer and with hard work and dedication, you win the case.” Morris said as he paused at the top of the second wave. I thought he was finished with his lesson but he wasn’t. With hios pencil heading down yet again, Morris said, “Having won the case, your client soon begins to believe he was in the right all along and winning the case was no big deal. So easy in fact, you shouldn’t have been paid the fee you were paid.”
That, he explained, was just nature of the practice of law was. It doesn’t matter how good a lawyer you are, what you say or do, the client satisfaction curve will always run its course. Your client will gripe just as often when you win a case as when you lose one. The simple fact is it’s part of being a lawyer. Telling Logan the story about the client satisfaction curve helped him accept he’d done a good job for his client and shouldn’t let his client’s sudden dissatisfaction shake his confidence in his abilities as a lawyer.
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