by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - August 17, 2005 - 'The Greatest' Philosophy
I did a Google search on “problem clients law” and came up with some really interesting sites. The Day on Torts law blog published by John A. Day has a post on problem clients and makes the following observation:
“I say that to say this: client selection is a key to profitability and sanity in a trial practice. In a personal injury case, poor client selection can result in the loss of an otherwise good case. In a commercial case, a bad client can cause untold grief.”
Of course, Mr. Day refers to a post by Mathew Holman who in large part started this train of thought. Mathew related the following problem client types, which I think are right on:
THE DISILLUSIONED consistently expresses disappointment with your work even though it is of good quality and conforms to spec.
THE SUSPICIOUS consistently expresses a lack of trust, disdain for your work, or questions your integrity.
THE CHISELER consistently complains about your bill, even though it conforms to the estimate they agreed to.
THE BULLY consistently is verbally abusive or threatening to you.
THE SOMETHING-FOR-NOTHING consistently increases the scope of the project but refuses to pay for the additional work.
Matt refers back to a posting by Christopher Hawkins who refers to eleven clients you need to fire right now.
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
