Originally posted by mole
This thread strange reminds me of the quote "you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time".
One of my favorite quotes. Right up there with "never give a sucker an even break," which I swear I didn't understand until about five years ago. I'm like, "Duh, oh yeah, cuz then you wouldn't be able to sucker him anymore ... Okay!" I guess I just amn't a swindler by nature.
Such propostrous challenges, I believe, are man-created devices by lawyers to bring in the bread to the family and not on any fundamental human reasoning on fairplay. Just like .com 
As an insider, I will disclose this -- often lawyers do in fact sit around chortling about how they're going to mutually exploit a dispute for their own benefit and the detriment of their clients. It's sort of the equivalent of mysoginistic commentary about "the girls" when guys are alone. Everyone has to pitch in, and they'd all be out in the doghouse if word got out.
As a practical matter, what is important for every client is to have enough self-education about legal matters to ask good questions. Second opinions from disinterested lawyers can be very helpful. I myself often tell clients stuff they don't want to hear, and at variance with what other lawyers tell them. I tell them to fight battles others say are unwinnable (Sex.Com), and to abandon battles others say they should continue (always a confidential topic).
An effective lawyer will treat you like a good doctor. If it's a headcold, she says, "take two and call me." If it's your heart, she sits you down, takes your cigarettes out of your shirt pocket and throws them in the garbage, then gives you the phone number for a health club, looks in your eyes and tells you that the suicide party is over. Then she shows you the angiogram and talks it up until you turn white. That's doctoring. You understand what the doctor understands, and you respond favorably because knowledge is compelling.
Same with lawyering. Getting stacks of paperwork done is secondary to helping the client understand what they hell is going on. When they do, they can make their own decisions, and tell the lawyer what to do. Which is what's supposed to happen.
Oh well, blabber. Everybody have a good weekend!
