Breaking up is hard to do: A ‘How to’ on avoiding bad clients (and bad results)

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Let’s face it, not every client is great.

In fact, some are just plain bad.

“They’re the ones you know are going to be trouble,” said Sarah Ruffi, a lawyer in Wausau. “They make you lose sleep. They give you that feeling in the pit of your stomach. They overwhelm you.”

Still, many attorneys struggle with how to deal with their less-than-desirable clientele, choosing to take those late night calls and answer those 15 emails — in one day — instead of trusting their guts and turning down the work.

Mark J. Goldstein, owner of Milwaukee-based Goldstein Law Group, said it doesn’t take long for anyone who has been on the short end of that stick to figure out that it’s usually not worth it.

“I’ve lived this one, and I’ve lived it the hard way,” he said. “You make more money by turning down the case than by taking it.”

This is why, Goldstein and Ruffi said, they take a pass on clients that might be troublesome — and they encourage others to do the same.

But how?

How do you really know a good client from a bad client? And, once you know what to look for, how do you say no? Or, say, you spot a bad apple too late. How do you break up with a client?

Knowing what to look for

It helps to identify characteristics that “good” clients generally have, although there’s no real science to it, said Goldstein, whose firm primarily specializes in business litigation and labor and employment law for small and mid-sized businesses.

“Defining a good client is not necessarily a binary exercise,” he said. “There are some clients who are good clients because they pay. There are some clients who are good clients because they have issues you can help with. There are some clients who are good clients because they can be a great referral source.”

Many of the qualities that can put a client in the “good” column are intangible.

“Look for a strong moral compass; (Grade) A clients conduct their business honestly, transparently, morally and ethically,” said Ruffi, who owns Ruffi Law Offices, a three-attorney firm that provides in-house counsel to businesses.

Good clients don’t micromanage; they let you do your job. They’re usually looking for an attorney relationship, not just a one-shot deal. Good clients also say thank you. And they pay, promptly.

“A good client won’t necessarily send a thank you or fall all over themselves to say your fee was reasonable,” Goldstein said. “But they pay their bill on time.”

On the other hand …

Bad clients, the kind Ruffi labels with a letter grade of F, couldn’t be more different.

For one, they tend to have unrealistic expectations — about their cases, about their culpability, about an attorney’s time. They aren’t willing to make time to answer questions and yet expect the lawyer to be at their beck and call any time of day. And they want results, usually yesterday, and often for little to no cost.

“They need to understand the value of what we do, that there is a difference between value and cost and it’s the value that matters,” Ruffi said.

Not every client can appreciate that. At times, the signs of dissatisfaction can be subtle — a lawyer joke here, a complaint about legal fees there.

“Saying something like, ‘This is going to cost me more than the divorce,’ might indicate the client has disdain for the whole process,” Goldstein said.

Other signs — mentioning how many lawyers have turned them down, bragging about how many they’ve fired — are not so subtle.

“There are definitely some early triggers that will tell you whether someone might not be a good fit. And it’s important to look for those things,” said Goldstein, who works primarily as outside corporate counsel for small and mid-sized businesses. “But if anything trips these triggers — the price-point issue, disdain for legal system — you should say no. But that’s easier said than done.”

Letting ’em down easy

So, how do you say no?

“You’ve got to be authentic. You’ve got to be real. And you’ve got to be open and honest,” Ruffi said. “Now that doesn’t mean saying, ‘I think you’re a total schmuck and my gut is screaming to run from you.’ You don’t have to be that open and honest, but you do have to be honest enough to not take the case no matter how much they bully you.”

And they might push a bit to see where it will get them.

That’s why, after practicing for 20 years, Ruffi has learned to have some responses at the ready.

“As a lawyer we want to help people; human nature is you want to help others,” she said. “It’s not that we just say, ‘No!’ and slam the phone down. Who knows? Just because they’re not a fit right now doesn’t mean they won’t be a fit in the future. I don’t want to slam that door.

“So, if it’s something that doesn’t exactly fit in my practice area, I will let them know that really doesn’t fit, and I will still be helpful and try to refer them to somebody I think can help them.”

If a person insists, Ruffi might try going about things in a different way.

“You say, ‘I won’t be able to get to it for X number of weeks or months. If that doesn’t work, you increase the size of your retainer until they can’t afford you.”

When one still slips through the cracks

Of course, not every system is foolproof, and even lawyers who have put up the best defenses can find themselves with bad clients.

If that happens, Ruffi said, it’s important for attorneys to protect themselves.

“You want to make sure you manage expectations from the beginning: How do you staff? What is your bill? What are your expectations for payment? Clearly establish your role. And make sure you cover your backside by thoroughly documenting everything.”

“And implement a ‘yes, if, but, no’ approach,” Ruffi suggested. “Yes, the client can do what he or she wants, but only if the client meets certain conditions. No, the client may not take actions he wants to take, but there may be other actions that can get them to the same position. If they don’t agree with you, then they can take care of themselves and go somewhere else.”

If you set out those sorts of conditions, Ruffi said, then the worst thing you can do is decide at the last minute, out of fear, to not let someone go. Breaking up may be hard to do, Ruffi said, but sometimes it’s the best option.