Too Much Too Long

I believe that too often we fail to consider whether the process of making money diminishes us, or in some way enlarges us. It seems to me that if we want to be enlarged, if we want our souls and spirits to benefit from our daily human activity, then the money-making process must be examined, and its effects evaluated. It was as a result of doing just this that I recently made the choice to terminate a long-time, well-paying client.

While the fees were quite good--his several businesses that I represented would have exceeded $40,000 in fees in 2000--representing him almost always gave me unpleasant feelings. This client gave "demanding" a new, and more pejorative, meaning than usual in the legal profession. His demands on my time were excessive, immediate, and never made with an appreciation for the service I gave in response. I cringed each time he called, thinking "Now what?" Each letter I received from him irritated me in its cavalier and arrogant tone.

The subject matter of his businesses didn't interest me at all. Finally, he had a compulsion to want to "push the envelope" in every way possible, so far as to treat statutes and similar forms of restrictions on his business methods and practices as annoyances at best and tests of his manhood at worst.

In my business and transactional practice, I have enjoyed many occasions when my services not only helped my clients in some significant way, but were openly appreciated by them as well. This is one of the rewards that makes the process and effort of making money "enlarging" rather than diminishing. But in 12 years of representing this client, I don't remember a single occasion when he expressed sincere appreciation for my having helped him in some way.

I can do without his money. I also can, but no longer will, provide representation where my soul and spirit are not rewarded.

From the moment I told this client that I was terminating our relationship (in essence, "firing" him), I felt uplifted. I did not waste my breath trying to explain the reasons to him as I have here, because the explanation would have required the use of terms ("soul," "spirit," etc.) that I know are alien to him, and that I feel certain he wouldn't be interested in learning about. I simply told him that my practice was moving, under my control, in directions away from his businesses.

I know this was the right decision, because my initial feelings of relief have expanded like the shoreline of a huge pit being flooded with clear, fresh water.

Tom Beaver, solo
Wyomissing, PA