Why does the Common Man get scared of Advocates and Litigation?

This article is written with the intention to enforce a feedback system for lawyers so that they do not take their clients for granted.

In this article I am also making an attempt to voice out the anxieties of people who cut down their  basic expenses in life to pay lump sums to Advocates ; some of them who are least committed to giving the output or legal service in an ethical manner

Many a time when we try to wage a legal battle, relatives, friends and well-wishers advise us that it is going to be a wastage of time and money. But for certain issues a legal battle is a must and we are shown the doors of the court in spite of our will.

Legal profession should be considered as noble as the profession of a doctor or a teacher. But then why does the common man have such a negative opinion about litigation in general?

There are various reasons which I am highlighting from my recent experiences

a)Payment Terms  keep changing:  Many advocates whose legal services I have availed were not clear about the payment pattern or had a roundabout way of twisting the payment terms. Initially they said that z amount of money was to be paid till stage1 of the case. But since the litigation process takes time, their level of commitment decreases until they are paid more money. The client then has a choice to change the lawyer or pay again to same advocate for the pending legal services. A client is thus fooled and made to pay for the same service again because the output /order was not passed within the specified timeframe.  Otherwise the advocates stop attending the case. In many cases the client ends up paying 100% to the advocate and gets only 40% legal services . 

b)Lack of Business Ethics: Some of them who were being paid by client(plaintiff) but were indirectly working for the defendant or vice versa. This comes as a shock to the common man who cuts downs his basic necessities of life to pay to advocates.

c)The Attitude of Superiority: Some of them did not have any value for the hard-earned money of a client. They felt that charging heavily was their right by virtue of being an advocate. But when it came to giving services, the clients were just made to run from here to there. My experience was , that an advocate will delay defeat but will not accept defeat. The client has to sense this and has to change the advocate.

d)Taking advantage of the helpless condition of the client: Many advocates know it very well that self-representation in a case is the last choice for a client.  Hence they quote a huge amount to the client. The helpless client has no  way out but to pay to the advocate and then pray to God to give right direction to the case.

e)Feedback System: In  service based industry like teaching , students can give feedback and get their teachers/professors changed if they are not performing their duties well. Even in Airlines/Hotels  industry feedback system exists to rate  the quality of their services. I think to maintain the business ethics and service standards of the advocates a feedback system must exist or if it exists it should be implemented seriously so that advocates should know that the quality of their service is being measured by the court.

Finally let us remember that law and order is a must and the need for advocates, lawyers, Counsels will always exist.Hence the common man should not get scared to come to the court to get Justice just because some of the legal professionals have spoilt the image of this profession.

Lata L Bhambwani