Good trial lawyers understand that every case is a story. Elite trial lawyers also see the story that is behind that story. It is these parts of the plot lurking below the surface that often play the largest role in how a case plays out. These same subplots are often driven by seemingly small things that detonate into the big problems that ultimately have the parties in court.
Two examples of how letting a small issue slide caused a much larger legal issue later
Those who know me are acutely aware of my proclivity for podcasts. I recently heard a piece of advice on one that reinforced this concept for me: “How you do anything is how you do everything.” This drove home the point that the seemingly smaller things deserve attention. Failing to pay attention to them will eventually lead to larger problems that become harder and more expensive to address.
How you do anything is how you do everything.
A couple of real-world examples from my time as a lawyer are worth sharing to support this idea. These examples are from a long time ago, and the names are left out to maintain anonymity.
On one occasion, my client was owed roughly $12,000 in relation to work his company performed retrofitting an old warehouse in Philadelphia. The client’s contract was with the building owner directly, and there were no objections to the work that was performed. After making considerable effort to engage in dialogue with the owner, my client was exceptionally irritated (small thing) by the complete lack of courtesy the owner was showing and asked me to get involved. I filed suit, and we eventually took a default judgment. A lawyer finally entered an appearance on behalf of the owner and had the default judgment opened, then immediately dropped off the face of the earth.
It was apparent the owner was ignoring this little issue. So, I took a second default judgment that was subsequently stricken, followed by an order preventing the owner from putting any defenses on at trial. When the owner fired his third lawyer the night before trial started in an attempt to delay things further, the court moved forward, affirmatively denied their ability to challenge our evidence, and awarded us a win at trial.
An appeal followed and the fourth lawyer on the case asked what had to be done to settle the matter. In slightly more colorful language, I told him to have his client pay the bill. By then, the small problem that could have settled for less than $12,000 was now a big problem of $75,000 or more because we were able to recover our attorney’s fees. Now that we finally had his attention, the owner paid the larger amount and the case resolved.
In another example, I represented a small masonry contractor who was also having trouble getting paid. We started talking about next steps to get the money, and, as is customary, I asked for the project documents to evaluate the claim and make a demand. I reviewed his project file and noticed that there were no invoices to the customer in the file, so I followed up. The response, incredibly, was that he did not have them because he did not send any out! While the customer had paid a few smaller amounts early in the project, we now had a conundrum. There was a legal claim for payment clearly, but proving the work was not paid for and how much was owed was a tricky proposition.
I asked the client why he had not sent out the invoices. He admitted that he did not like the administrative part of the business and, because it seemed like a small thing, he just did not prioritize it. In an attempt to offer some context, I relayed that it’s not enough to be owed the money. Courts expect you to provide proof. Simply passing on the small administrative tasks in your business because you don’t like them means you eventually run out of money, people or both.
Fortunately, this problem was not a large one in terms of the amount, and it got resolved to his liking. We were also able to convince him it was a good idea to hire someone to handle the little task of invoicing so he did not have to do it.
The lesson to be learned is an important one. Treat the small things the same way you treat the big things. I can attest by experience that almost every big dispute that I have dealt with as a lawyer started as a smaller one that was left unaddressed. If you know about a small problem, give it the respect it deserves by addressing it. How you do anything is, indeed, how you should do everything.
Josh Quinter is a commercial litigation attorney with a focus on construction law. He is also a member of the Board of Directors and a department chair at his law firm, Offit Kurman. Active in a number of construction trade and business organizations, he presently serves as the president of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Metal Building Contractors & Erectors Association (MBCEA), serves on the MBCEA national board and is the organization’s general counsel. Contact him at jquinter@offitkurman.com or for more information go to www.offitkurman.com/ attorney/joshua-quinter.
