For entrepreneurs and owners of small and family-held businesses, the line between personal and business is a very fine one. Given the time, effort, money, sacrifice, and passion that owners invest in building and growing their businesses, it is almost impossible not to be emotional to some degree about their successes and failures, challenges and opportunities. So, when a dispute arises, when someone has wronged the business, or when another party’s actions threaten its finances, reputation, brand, and even continued viability, an owner’s visceral reaction to such an occurrence is understandable.
But the anger, righteous indignation, anxiety, and other powerful emotions raised by a business dispute –while perhaps justified — are rarely beneficial when an owner is deciding how to handle the conflict. No matter how personal a matter may feel to you or your business, litigation is ultimately about facts, law, and money. It centers on making rational and strategic choices and adopting strategies that are focused on obtaining the best available result rather than the most emotionally satisfying one.
As a business litigator, I speak with business owners all the time who are in the throes of their initial reaction to being served with a complaint or learning that a competitor, vendor, customer, or other party has engaged in conduct that violates the business’s rights under a contract, under the law, or otherwise. These moments are often heated and emotions run high.
This is where the dynamic between a business owner and a business lawyer, and their respective perspectives on a business dispute, benefits both parties in the relationship.
Translating Core Client Concerns Into a Rational, Effective Litigation Strategy
Though an attorney’s counsel involves sharing their thoughts, opinions, and recommendations with their clients, all that talking must be prefaced by listening. Those client emotions, while perhaps not manifesting in court proceedings and legal briefs, can help the attorney formulate a case strategy by revealing what the client’s core concerns are and what it will take to address and alleviate those concerns.
Since those conversations are privileged and confidential, there is nothing wrong and no harm done when a client lets off steam or uses colorful language when discussing the dispute with their lawyer. A good attorney will understand the emotions involved and give the client space to be unfiltered and direct.
Don’t Confuse Your Lawyer’s Composure With Lack of Commitment
A client may be bewildered when their attorney does not react with similar emotion and intensity to the misery and danger being inflicted upon them by the other party to the dispute. The client may think their attorney doesn’t care about their plight as much as they do, or does not share their sense of urgency when the attorney calmly delivers their counsel with a seemingly dispassionate rationality.
The reality is that the attorney’s role is not to mirror or mimic the client’s feelings about a dispute. Instead, the lawyer’s job is to approach and analyze it with realism, pragmatism, and a focus on the facts, law, and dollars and cents aspects of the conflict. Business owners whose business sense may be temporarily clouded by their emotions may not fully understand the consequences and potential outcomes of what those emotions ask of their attorney. As my colleague Seth Rosenstein discussed here, there is no such thing as a “slam dunk” in business litigation. Even seemingly straightforward lawsuits can take years, cause disruptions to the business, and cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, all with the chance of a negative outcome. Judges and juries are human, and their decisions are not infallible; they can and often do get things wrong. It is part of your attorney’s representation to lay out these realities for you.
Outside of those attorney-client conversations, in depositions, at the courthouse, or in settlement discussions, a client may not understand how their attorney can be friendly and collegial with the lawyer whose job it is to defeat their claims or defenses. But zealous advocacy doesn’t necessarily involve foaming at the mouth, pounding the table, or berating opposing counsel. In fact, those approaches often exacerbate the situation, increase costs, and reduce the likelihood of a negotiated settlement. Civility and professionalism can and should stand side-by-side with aggressive and zealous representation.
Business owners should not mistake their lawyer’s calm for indifference. Quite the opposite. You hired your attorney for their knowledge, judgment, and advocacy skills. To maximize the benefits of those qualities on your behalf, they need to check their own emotions and focus on getting you the relief or result that will best serve your interests and goals as you have defined them emotionally or otherwise.
If you are involved in or anticipate a business dispute, please contact Gabriel Blum or one of the other business litigators at Ansell.Law.