Talking about money needs to be like breathing. It just needs to happen without even thinking about it. It should be a part of every client interaction.
You’re talking to your client in 20 minutes. The call is on your calendar.
The discussion will center on the value of the business. Your expert valued it at $3.7 million. The wife’s expert says $4.5. Theoretically, you could split it down the middle at $4.1, but you’re pretty sure your expert is right. Her expert doesn’t really understand some of the liabilities, and your deposition of the expert revealed certain other weaknesses in the anticipated testimony.
So the dispute, and this is really all that’s left to argue about, is over $800,000 in value, and your client will likely get half of it. The total value of the claim is $400,000. Splitting the difference gets your client $200,000.
Should Your Client Cut a Check or Cut His Losses?
Today’s conversation is about how to proceed. Will you go for it and shoot for the whole $400K, or will you back away from the dispute and take $200K as a compromise?
The primary factors to evaluate are (1) the likelihood of success and (2) the attorneys’ fees involved in pursuing the claim.
We can’t talk about the case without talking about the attorneys’ fees. This endeavor with this client is about money. How much can we get, and how little can we spend to get it? Those are the key questions.
Failing to talk about the attorneys’ fees wouldn’t make sense. We’d be leaving out one of the two key factors. There’s no doubt that we’ll talk about the fees.
That’s not always the case, however. In many instances, we avoid the attorneys’ fees component of the conversation. Money is uncomfortable. It’s especially uncomfortable when it’s money “they” are going to have to pay to “us.” Many of us would rather not talk about our fees, so we avoid the conversation if it’s possible.
We’re especially likely to avoid the money conversation when we’re dealing with custody issues and sometimes spousal support. Talking about money doesn’t seem as essential when it’s less directly connected to the outcome. Many of us even find ways to avoid talking about attorneys’ fees in property division cases when the issues involve property with “sentimental” value or when it’s “the principle of the thing.”
It’s not fair to our clients for us to avoid the attorneys’ fees conversation. It needs to come up in every context and in nearly every conversation. We need to constantly put the fees on the table and help our clients factor the money into their decision. To do otherwise is to fail to advise our clients about an essential issue. Money matters, right?
Give Them Their Money’s Worth
Talking about money needs to be like talking about the weather. It needs to be like breathing. It needs to be a significant piece of each conversation we have with our clients. If fees are part of your routine decision-making process with your clients, it never feels awkward to ask about money. For every action or reaction, there’s a list of positives, negatives, and associated costs. Run through the list as you deal with everything that happens.
Talk about attorneys’ fees at the initial consultation. Explain to your clients that you’ll be talking about the fees and the impact they have on the resolution of the case at every opportunity. Explain that you want them to feel fully informed about what they’re spending and how they’re spending it.
Then, as the case progresses, fulfill your promise. Walk into every meeting prepared to talk about how much has been spent, how much this discussion will cost, and the financial impact of the decisions you’re discussing in today’s meeting. Be ready to project future expenses resulting from the actions you’re taking and planning to take. Again, talking about the money should be like breathing: it’s always happening, it’s normal, and it’s expected.
When it’s time to for clients to make a payment to your firm, they’ll know what’s coming. They’ll have made the decision to incur the expense and nothing will ever be a surprise. Payments become non-events when everyone is informed and working from the same information.
Money Talks
Conversations about money don’t need to be special. They don’t need to be reserved for when a bill goes unpaid. They don’t need to be delegated to a paralegal or to the accounting department.
Conversations about money need to be like breathing. Make them part of every interaction, and you’ll always get paid.
