There’s a Bit of the Lawyer in Everyone
Have you ever heard the expression “a person who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client?” If you hang around lawyers enough, you certainly will hear it. It makes good business sense for the lawyers.
And in many cases, it makes good sense, period. Certainly in a lawsuit involving considerable sums or complex statutory analysis, it would be foolhardy to be your own lawyer.
There are lots of reasons: Complicated lawsuits involve legal technicalities you may never know, you may not be as objective as a lawyer and you certainly won’t have the courtroom experience of a trial attorney.
On the other hand, the legal system does not require that a lawyer represent you, even in a lawsuit.
In fact, there are some lawsuits--those in small claims court--for which you must be your own lawyer; lawyers are not allowed to represent you, they may only offer advice outside the courtroom. And whether you realize it or not, there are many times in any given day or week when you act as your own legal adviser.
When you drive a car, for example, you are following the rules of the road, the statutes passed by the state legislature that govern your driving behavior. There is a great deal of law around you in many routine activities. When you buy groceries or clothing or gasoline, you are undertaking a legal obligation to pay. In fact, there are many large purchases, like a car, a house or life insurance, that can involve such complex legal subjects as securities regulation or financing. And most of these transactions are done without a lawyer by your side.
No one could afford a lawyer for every single dispute. You have to learn to negotiate, to propose compromises and to enter into settlement agreements yourself. Even though they may not have the formal structure of a written instrument, you have been doing a bit of lawyering on your own in the process.
There are two kinds of legal knowledge you need to handle the legal complexities of life. One is simply a working knowledge of the general legal system, the courts, juries, the Constitution, the kinds of things you should have learned in civics class. The other might be called laws about personal living, the laws that govern buying, selling, owningand all the general requirements of getting along in our complex, law-based society. And there are plenty of good sources to school yourself about such laws: self-help books like those published by Nolo Press in Berkeley, pamphlets published by the State Bar of California or even community college courses about business law. One interesting project along this line is something called the Client Law Library in a room in the law offices of Mosten & Wasserstrom, a Los Angeles law firm. That library contains books, pamphlets and videos to help clients understand the legal aspects of matters and cases in which the client is involved. The most ironic time when you have to represent yourself is when you hire a lawyer. Whenever you engage a lawyer’s services, you are creating a legal obligation to pay, and usually a written agreement will be used. Obviously, the lawyer you are about to retain is not in a good position to advise you on the pending contract.
Of course, you could always hire another lawyer to review the proposed contract with the first lawyer . . . but then who would review the contract with the second lawyer?
Klein is an attorney and president of The Times Valley and Ventura County Editions. Brown is professor of law emeritus at USC and chairman of the board for the National Center for Preventive Law. They cannot answer mail personally but will respond in this column to questions of general interest about law. Do not telephone. Write to Jeffrey S. Klein, The Times, 9211 Oakdale Ave. Chatsworth, Calif. 91311.
