Dumb Cases

There is a such a thing as a bad case. What is it? Well, its one of those things that you will know when you see it. But, how do you tell? What do you do once you see it?

You can tell a bad case fairly easily, if you have experience. Once you have been talking to people for a while, you can tell who has a bad case and who does not. But, when you are starting out, how do you know? My contracts professor in law school taught me something easy: who is suing who for what? Ask yourself that when you get a call from a potential client. If you cannot answer it easily, it is probably a bad case. If you can answer it, but it sounds strange, then it is a bad answer. In other words, if you say that "Bill is suing God..." well, you can stop right there. If you say "Bill is suing Suzie for laughing at him?" then you have a bad case.

What do you do with the bad potential case? First, send a rejection letter. Send it quickly. Don't wait. Second, do not refer it out to someone else. If it is a bad case, just tell the client you cannot help him or her and send out your letter.