Dr. Johnson defined prudence as “wisdom applied to practice.” By contrast, some law firms run their law practice on the paramount principle of maximizing their profits. This effectively means endlessly litigating, arguing, disputing, and nitpicking over everything the opposing side is willing to quarrel with. This maximizes the attorney’s billable hours, and results in lots of “busywork” that practically accomplishes very little. Such lawyers create and then escalate conflict. They persuade their clients that they have more to dispute over than the clients themselves at first thought. These law firms are often guilty of destroying their clients’ lives, and will sometimes pursue litigation of a case far beyond anything their clients would ever have wanted. Paradoxically, while these law firms prefer to “litigate” and conduct endless meaningless discovery, some of them are often unwilling to take a case to trial.
Some law firms are run on the principle of winning at all costs. This means that not only is the importance of ethics minimized, but that the law firm is too selective in those clients it is willing to help. These law firms follow the lex-voluntas tradition of law, in which sheer power of will and sheer power of assertion lead to escalating disputes, repetitively needless discovery requests, and an overabundance of motions and briefing that is meant to overwhelm one’s opponent. Tactics are designed, not to serve the client’s best interest, but to win a case. Many clients don’t always understand that there is often a difference. Many lawyers don’t care. As a result, these lawyers often rack up unnecessary attorney fees as a matter of common practice, and they do so by refusing to focus on what is right or just in each particular case.
Our Firm runs differently. Our primary goal for clients is to help them achieve the best outcome in the swiftest and most efficient way possible while working within the limitations of our legal system. Many instances of litigation involve important family or business relationships, and many cases brought to court can be managed or resolved in a way that preserves those relationships rather than driving them further apart. There are often many lawsuits filed in court that ought to be resolved with an out-of-court settlement, even if that means less in attorney fees for the lawyers. There are even some legal disputes where the cost of winning for a client is far greater than the cost of compromising and settling.
Additionally and at the same time, as our primary objective is to be effective in reaching the best possible resolution of a case, we are not afraid or hesitant to take any case to trial. Our attorneys believe in conducting trials in an aggressive, detailed, and comprehensive manner designed to appeal to the particular judge of a particular courtroom. Our senior attorney, Stephen E. Penner, is a trial attorney who has been conducting trials for over forty-five years. Prudence in law practice understands the paradox that if the opposing attorneys in a litigated case know that you are willing and prepared to go to trial, it is easier to obtain a fair and reasonable settlement that avoids trial. By contrast, those who do not exercise the prudence to prepare for trial and to prove willingness to go to trial are precisely those who conduct more trials. It is only by the virtue of prudence that a lawyer knows the difference.