Guidelines For Lawyers and Litigants ~by Legal Pub

Lawyers and those involved in litigation need help.  They tend to be unhappy folks.  While Legal Pub can't prescribe Prozac, we can give a few tips to improve the mood of attorneys and parties involved in litigation matters.

1.  Improve your health.  Stop smoking.  Nothing good happens to smokers.  Wrinkles from frowning over litigation are bad enough.  Who needs wrinkles, heart disease and cancer? Stop. In place of smoking, improve your diet and exercise. Enough said.

2.  Abandoned your negativity well before you reach the courtroom.  The glass is not half empty, it is half full!  Optimistic people enjoy better emotional and physical health.With the right attitude, your blood pressure may normalize without medication.

3. Avoid bad mouthing your opponent.  No one believes that you are a better person or a superior attorney just because you can point out flaws in the opposition.  Let your character and abilities speak for themselves.

4.  It is okay to turn down prospective clients if your abilities, comfort level or morality does not make you the right attorney for the case.  There is no reason to add to stress levels becoming involved in cases that cause you undo stress or discomfort.  Attorneys, concentrate on cases you enjoy handling.  You will do a better job and have higher client satisfaction if you follow this basic principle.  Litigants, don't get talked into court if you prefer to amicably resolve your problems.  Litigation is seldom an enjoyable experience, especially when you don't want to be pursuing this method of conflict resolution.  Mediation where parties amicably resolve their dispute is almost always a healthier alternative.

5. Avoid the natural inclination to overreact.  Losing a motion, a hearing or even the case is not the end of the world.  Lawyers have many cases and overtime will win their fair share.  Furthermore, both litigants and parties need to understand that there are at least two sides to every dispute and sometimes, justice is simply not on their side.

6.  Win or lose, don't hold grudges.  Anger and resentment will only diminish the quality and length of your life.

7.  Don't take yourself too seriously.  Often times the most severe critique in the room is oneself.  If someone pays you a compliment, smile and say thanks.

8.  Be the life of your own party.  This is the most important of all suggestions.  Learn to laugh.  Have fun.  Live an interesting life.  This will not only lead to more enjoyment for the litigant or the attorney, it will also lead to more enjoyable life for those around you!

Follow these principles, live a better professional and social life and you will avoid the traps and pitfalls of those who do not.