If you’re looking for an “Aggressive” Lawyer or a “Retaliation” Lawyer, instead of a more intellectual, more passive, quieter, more analytical, “bookworm” of a lawyer, you might want to keep the following points in mind:

1. It’s The Final Result That Matters Most.  A bunch of angry letters back and forth

between an Attorney, and the Opposing Attorney, arguing about everything under the sun, may make you feel better, but they don’t necessarily help.  No matter how scary and threatening the letters may sound to you, they are from attorney to attorney, and the guy you’re suing may never even see them.  And worse yet, no matter how eloquent and articulate and clever the letters may sound to the attorney that wrote them, they will never persuade the Opposing Attorney, and the Judge deciding the case may never even read them.

1. The Worst Settlement Terms that You Can Imagine Are Most Likely Still Better

Than the Court Judgment Will Be, Considering All the Money Spent on Attorneys’ Fees.  If you go to Trial, you could win or lose.  You might even be stuck paying the other side’s costs.  If you win, and get a Judgment, you still are faced with the daunting task of collecting on it.  The other side may Appeal the Judgment, and tie up the lawsuit for years.  Even after the Appeal is heard, you may still have to wait.  On the other hand, if you reach a Settlement, particularly if an insurance company is writing the check, in due course, you will actually be able to collect the money due to you.

1. Sometimes An Aggressive Lawyer or An Attorney Hired to Retaliate, Can

Actually Make Matters Worse.   A simple border dispute with your neighbor, about a tree over-hanging the dividing wall, can end up with the other side discovering that your dividing wall in on their property, and must be torn down!   Recently, two partners that were producing a low-budget movie, had a falling out, and split up.  The junior partner demanded a certain sum of money as a pay-out, in a lump sum.  The senior partner said, “no way,” and told the junior partner to just “go away.”  The junior partner then hired a very quiet, meek, non-aggressive …. But clever … attorney who did some research, and found that one of the agreements the two partners had signed, meant that the film could NOT be legally distributed without the consent of the other … and joila! … the senior partner ended up being forced to pay the junior partner ten (10) times the original demand.  And when a case is looking like it might settle, an Aggressive Real Estate lawyer can easily be confrontational, and steer the case back to more mountains of discovery, motion practice and Court hearings.

1. Aggressive With Other Lawyers … May Mean Aggressive With You (the Client)

As Well.  Aggressiveness is partly learned, and partly a personality trait.  Be forewarned that to the extent it’s a personality trait, the Aggressive Lawyer may also be aggressive with you (the client).  That means demanding payment periodically, and not taking “no” for an answer.  It’s no fun to have an attorney that files a “Request for Withdrawal” with the Court, because you have gotten behind on your invoice payments.  There are also many ways an attorney can “magnify” their charges.  For example, many lawyers charge in minimum increments of two (2) tenths of an hour, which translates to twelve (12) minutes.  So … if your “ Aggressive ” attorney want to magnify their charges, they can make (“important”) phone calls regarding your case.  Even if the phone call takes five (5) minutes, it will – in effect – be billed as twelve (12) minutes.

1. Attorneys Have a Lot of Discretion In Choosing a Course of Action.  If your case

is hotly disputed, and heavily litigated, there will be literally dozens of hearings that you do not attend, but which are attended only by the attorneys on the two sides.  That means that the attorneys have literally dozens of opportunities to begin discussions of settlement, or instead, to irritate and even enrage opposing counsel.  We can safely say that you will be best served by an attorney that is at least willing to listen to a proposed settlement, and convey the details to you, honestly, correctly and completely.

1. Some Attorneys Are Too Passive, or Too Timid, But Others Are Too Aggressive.

You really want your attorney to be somewhere in the middle of the “Assertiveness Spectrum.”  Your attorney should forcefully assert and protect your interests and rights, but be open to listen to what the other side is saying.  It’s not always an easy assessment to make, but you really to think about it, and try !