The Bully

Helped out a lady recently who was in court with a bully. This lawyer kept trying to force her to reveal personal information on the witness stand. Medical stuff, where her children went to school, that kind of thing. And what was she there on? A debtor's exam!

Some lawyers think their profession gives them the right to be bullies. To make life as difficult and tedious and frustrating and aggrivating for the other side as they can. These lawyers do have success, to a point. Often, however, they miss the point.

These kind of lawyers especially love beating up on poor people who can't afford their own lawyers, like my friend in the debtor's exam. The law is used as a bludgeon to beat them into submission, damn the consequences for real life.

Usually a good judge will step in and whack a lawyer on the head when he gets too belligerant. But some judges won't, saying that it's the in pro per person's fault for not hiring a lawyer.

I don't believe in the bully approach. I think that what we deal with in the law is too important for the playing of schoolyard games. I have three times now been up against an in pro per in court since launching my solo practice last year, and each time I've tried to treat the person on the other side with respect and courtesy.

The problem, of course, is that the reputation of lawyers precedes me. So when I say in a quiet voice, "we should try to talk about this before we have the hearing," the person on the other side hears me scream "you'll never win because I'm a lawyer and you're not."

Getting back to my friend...I gave her some objections to use when the lawyer got off track. She did and the judge sustained them--and cut off the exam. As they were leaving court the frustrated lawyer called her the "b" word. She gleefully said back, "hey, you got beat by a girl!"