Welcome to the ShTexaslawyer.com Blog

It’s always awkward when you have the first meeting with a person consulting you for the loss of a loved one. That awkwardness comes from trying to balance between your human compassion for the person who is suffering, trying to focus on the job at hand, and personal excitement at a truly meaningful case.

In personal injury law, the most highly coveted cases are wrongful death cases. Not only are the interesting, but you have a potential of making a considerable fee. You also have the chance to do something truly helpful for a client. So when a lawyer gets a call for a wrongful death claim they get quiet excited. That excitement is inappropriate to display though. If a lawyer shows too much excitement they sound like a greedy vulture. Facts that might be great for a case are terrible for a client to hear.

At the same time, you aren’t being hired to be a shoulder. The client is looking for competent, honest, dependable representation to deal with an overwhelming tragedy in their life. They don’t need you to cry with them or for them. They don’t want you to be a sympathizer, they want you to take care of something for them in the best possible way.

I know lawyers who refuse to express condolences at all, saying they weren’t hired to do that. I know lawyers who hide information to protect their clients from painful facts. I know lawyers who have not gone into certain subjects for fear of causing emotional distress for the survivors. I think the better course is to adopt a mindset I imagine doctors learn when dealing with the terminally ill.

I have seen reports where schools try to teach student doctors how to deal with terminal care. You can’t coddle them, you can’t give them artificial hope, but you can be compassionate. In my practice I consider how well my client is doing as a factor in what subjects to inquire about, and when to inquire. Some are ready more than others to deal with difficult issues and facts.

I have no problem expressing sympathy, but I also understand once is enough. I have been hired to do a job to the best of my ability. So I focus on being sensitive to how information might hurt, but stay honest when letting them know. Then I focus on doing my job. The best thing I can do for my client in these circumstances is to get the best possible result, and let them sort out their own lives. If I’m asked about life decisions, where I feel competent to answer I will. Where I do not, I will suggest sources that could be helpful with their need. In the end, nothing I do will ever replace the loved one. It isn’t about the money. It’s about making the best of a terrible circumstance for those left behind.