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Lawyers have a reputation of being ruthless and cutthroat, doing anything necessary to win a case. Even if they may not agree with everything their client has done ethically, everyone is entitled to legal counsel, and we all want to have a bulldog in our corner when defending ourselves.
Sometimes, however, even lawyers have regrets about how things have gone down in the courtroom. One curious Reddit user recently asked attorneys to share stories of cases they wish they hadn’t won, and hundreds weighed in with heartbreaking memories. Below, you’ll find the most powerful responses, so be sure to upvote any that hit home for you.
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#1
Family law is a little different in that you never really "win" per se. You may get more favorable rulings or better terms, but unless the opposing party did something illegal or mindbogglingly stupid it's never a decisive "win" really. Although I did have a case where my client fought really hard for the dog, and then ended up turning him over to a shelter. F*****g a*****e. The ex wife received an "anonymous" tip and was able to get him back quickly.
PlatinumTheCat 2 years ago
Is the anonymous person the lawyer, because the quotation marks make me think that
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Ansi 2 years ago
I read a similar list and that couple were fighting to the death about who would get the dog. They also had two children. None of them wanted or fought over them. 🥺 It was so freaking sad.
DarkViolet 2 years ago
That IS sad. I'm sure that those kids never forgot it.
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David A Paterson 2 years ago (edited)
Was the dog being abused by the wife? I had to take an abused dog away from its owner, who had the dog so starving that it had to eat its own fur. I did not appreciate that the shelter gave the dog back to its abuser just two days later. Which was actually illegal for the shelter to do as the law states that abused animals must be held for six days before being returned to their abuser.
R De Backer 2 years ago
They should not be returned at all and the abuser should never be able to get another living being again. Poor dog. Imagine the horror it’s forced to continue living. That shelter should get fined.
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deanna woods 2 years ago
The only reason that they would have wanted the dog was to spite their ex.
Adrian 2 years ago
This happened to me! My ex turned the dog into the pound and I had to rescue him, pay the adoption fee, etc.
R De Backer 2 years ago
So sorry for you and thank you for saving him. Hope your ex has the worst life possible and never finds rest in any way until she tenfold does good for others.
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Diana Graham 2 years ago
I heard the same thing but the person euthanized the dog!! I wonder if the husband (in my case) could sue for the incident. Fighting for the dog and than killing it. Just sick.
John Dilligaf 2 years ago
this just came up in another post here on BP (30 Creepy Things That Are Actually Perfectly Legal). Apparently CA recently passed some laws to address this issue. Good for them.
Little My 2 years ago
I have a friend whose husband and her were divorcing as he’d left her. They had two adored cockapoos, their children adored them, they were family. Friend was looking for a new home as ex had got the family home and she couldn’t take the dogs. He agreed to have them. He then rehomed the dogs, and a few weeks later ended up getting two cockapoo puppies with his girlfriend (who he had left my friend for). She is devastated. Why give two perfectly lovely dogs away to get the same breed and same amount of dogs again?
DarkViolet 2 years ago
For spite. There is no limit to the damage such individuals will do to others.
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#2
Did a simple eviction for non payment of rent just last month. Super easy. Won the eviction but found out after the hearing that she didn't pay because her cancer treatments we eating up all of her income.
Felt awful but worked out a deal after the fact so she kept the apartment.
Jill Rhodry 2 years ago
Still shocked that someone, in a supposedly first world country, can lose their home due to medical bills #smh
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 2 years ago
It's absolutely pathetic for US Lawmakers to find 'excuses' not to address this
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Gardener of Weeden 2 years ago
She was lucky - I was in almost the same situation - ( husband had a stroke), I got financial aide, Too late, was taken to court and tossed out and sued for all balances. Had to move disabled husband and kid in HS, to a literal roach & rat infested slum, I was still working .
#3
My mother was a prosecutor for thirtysome years. The worst case that still haunts her was of this fifteen year old girl who was a fat Asian girl who got pregnant. So she hid the pregnancy the entire time from her very abusive parents, gave birth in her bedroom without them finding out, then hid the baby in the closet and it died from suffocation. Clearly the teen was horrifically in the wrong, but she was so beaten down and abused and terrified of her parents my mom wished she could have charged them instead and let the teen have a normal life.
similarly 2 years ago
As much as we need to protect the baby's life, I think consideration needs to be made for teens who panic after giving birth. This actually happens quite a lot, and I think needs to be treated as a kind of temporary insanity. A lot of times it's just very panicked teens not thinking clearly.
Monday 2 years ago
Particularly in cases like this where the poor kid gave birth alone in her bedroom. I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been. I really hope the charges she got were just mandatory psychiatric treatment. Obviously she had to be charged since a crime was committed and honestly spending a few years in a psych institution away from her awful parents would probably do her a world of good.
Load More Replies... Susie Elle 2 years ago (edited)
Can you imagine the trauma from having to give birth to a baby alone in your bedroom without your parents finding out?
Tessa 2 years ago
Exactly, Traumatizing upon the trauma she already seemed to have from her upbringing. She needs support, not punishment.
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SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
I think I remember reading about this case... at least, I hope so. I'd hate to think there were two such cases.
Seabeast 2 years ago
I am willing to bet the father of the baby was some male relative. If not dad, then someone else in the family.
Grammarly 2 years ago
Or some other male adult, possible a family friend, that should have been trustworthy
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Jennifer Freytes 2 years ago
Even abused girls don't have rights anymore thanks to Christianity persecution and now they will punish her for her fear! Yep
der sebbl 2 years ago
Christianity is not the problem here. Old white men wanting to rule over women's bodys are the problem
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#4
I’m a work comp attorney. Now represent injured people, but used to work on other side insurance defense.
There was an applicant with a serious injury. Fell off a ladder, busted back with fusion, shoulder f****d, years of treatment. Internal issues, psych issues - really just f****d up. 50%+ permanent disability. We were 5 years in and finally getting to settlement time. If we bought out his future medical, settlement pretty far into 6 figures. This guy was the sole provider for wife and 2 kids.
Then we found out he had a aggressive brain cancer. Expected only couple years to live, at best.
Thus, we wouldn’t buy out future medical anymore. Still got permanent disability for $60k-ish... but can’t give medical buyout based on 25+ year life expectancy anymore.
I felt terrible for the guy and his family. Me and the adjuster tried to get insurance to agree to some sort of amount like 5 year buyout, but the bean counters said hell no. The attorney knew it wasn’t me making the decision. Even though he worked on that guy’s file for 5+ years he decided to take $0 in fees. I have so much respect for that attorney turning down $10k+ in fees to help his client in a very s****y situation.
Joelle Jansen 2 years ago
That's terrible. So this guys family doesn't get a full pay out because he got an unrelated cancer and they're just sh*t out of luck?
brittany 2 years ago
sounds like the American legal system at work but i could be wrong
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Beachbum 2 years ago
The worker's comp system is complete s**t! Going thru this right now with my son. NOthing compated to what this guy went thru, but had to get 20 stitches in his had. Will see how the system works out, if he keeps getting jerked around will tell him to hire an attorney, just suck you have to give them 1/3....
#5
As a former employment lawyer I regret defending a company in a law suit in which the employee had an acident and lost her left leg, had the left side of her body covered in burn scars because of the companies fault.
The case was more or less like this.
This lady worked at a toll on a highway, whenever she needed to go to the toilet she'd have to close the toll, change the sign lights to red so no-one would go through that toll.
Unfortunately due to lack of maintenance, the lights did not change and when the lady was crossing the road a car ran her over, dragged her 10 meters.
After defending this case I realised I did not want that in my life, I wasn't meant to be a lawyer so I dropped everything and quit the week after.
Monday 2 years ago
If you had to choose between doing a s**t thing and getting paid vs doing the right thing and not making rent, would it be such an easy choice? Technically you can refuse a case, but if you do your firm will support you less and less (kind of like that a*****e boss that gives you fewer shifts after you refuse to do overtime) and make your life hell since they'll spread the word to other firms that you're not a team player. I think threads like these are things people need to browse through before becoming lawyers, to see if they could live with it or not.
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Karen Krause 2 years ago
My sister dated a lawyer who refused to represent an "accused rapist". He said he knew the guy did it and didn't want to represent him. He was told either to represent or get fired. He did get fired and he just became a corporate lawyer.
Hans Georg 2 years ago
Unless the judge was stupid, she should have won. Here in Germany she would have definitely won. But in Germany people are people and not resources.
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Marina Rocha 2 years ago
That's why I am a tax lawyer. I just don't have the stomach for any of this. I am literally feeling ill
#6
I got a spoiled brat of a teenager cleared of a shoplifting charge when he absolutely had done it. His rich parents hired me to represent him, I did that to the best of my ability, and we went to trial and won, but I can't say I felt good about it. This kid needed to be taught some accountability for his actions and his parents just wanted to buy their way out of any trouble he got into.
David 2 years ago
over a certain amount becomes a felony. Where I am, $800 and over is a felony, under is a misdemeanor. Rich kid probably swiped something expensive
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Labellesouris 2 years ago
Well, that will backfire on them and that juvenile delinquent will end up in jail or dead...are you on retainer for them?
Binky Melnik 2 years ago
Think: If it were legal, there wouldn’t have been lawyers and a trial.
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Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
The etymology of the word "privilege" is "law that only affects one person". Its the exceptions you get by being able to afford a good lawyer and the laws written to help the 1% instead of the 99%.
Justin Thyme 2 years ago
THIS is a shining example of why we hate lawyers so much. Lower than the smegma on a dead leper's p****r.
Monday 2 years ago
From your perspective yes. From the perspective of the family he provides for (and possibly spoils) with the money he makes from it he's the best person. Burden of proof is on the prosecution. If a defense attorney is able to get a guilty client off without doing shady s**t like paying bribes or threatening witnesses then the prosecution didn't do their job well enough.
Load More Replies... #7
Did a divorce where the husband (who I was representing) wanted to trade custody of his children for a set of bedroom furniture. The bedroom furniture was not even like a family heirloom. It was furniture that you could probably get at a Rooms-to-Go or something. Ugh, still makes me ill. That's why I got out of family law.
Debbie 2 years ago (edited)
If she wanted them that is, almost sounds like they both don't want them.
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Downunderdude 2 years ago
True story which happened here in Canberra. Couple split up, guy went overseas. He emailed the ex and asked her to sell his (it was his, not hers) brand new Mercedes and send him the money. It was worth like $100,000. She put an ad in the local paper and sold it - for $20 - and sent him the money. He tried to sue her but lost.
Mary Kelly 2 years ago
i would be disgusted with him...but, i would have no remorse over making the trade....better that his kids not see him...piece of s**t
BetterBitterButter 2 years ago
Well I hope those bedroom furniture will come to see him when he is nearing his end.
DarkViolet 2 years ago
Same thing I was thinking. What do children and elephants have in common? They never forget. Never.
Load More Replies... Seadog 2 years ago (edited)
He had $1M hidden in the box springs. My son worked for a delivery company and was delivering a mattress and box springs. When they went to move the old mattress, some money fell out of a hole in the side. They handed it to the woman, reached in and eventually pulled out $1500. She had them leave the old one. We assume she gutted that thing.
Sara Wilson 2 years ago
Sounds more like a great idea! I'd happily give up my bedroom set for my kids to keep them away from this guy, and he's shown the court he has no interest in his kids, should he try and change that later
#8
One of my cases I can remember well is one about a man who was accused of a sexual crime toward a women. His story kept changing and we all knew he had done it but he wouldn’t admit to it so we went on with it. Somehow he had evidence on the women and ended up winning the case. To this day it scares me to know he’s out in the world probably doing it again.
lenka 2 years ago
The most concerning part of this story is the part where they say... "he had evidence on the women". What evidence? Unless that evidence goes to the issue of consent, it should not be at all relevant where the woman is a victim of sexual assault.
Shark Lady 2 years ago
I've heard of cases where defence barristers have made assumptions about a victim's character for the type of underwear she was wearing. What a victim is wearing should not even be mentioned in such cases. Also how many people they have slept with, how many one night stands etc.
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EmBree 2 years ago
I remember a guy that got away because he showed that the woman was into "kinky" stuff. The judge thought that having a consensual kink was equal to consent to... Everything a man can imagine. I hope that judge steps on Lego every day for the rest of his life.
GettingCereal 2 years ago
Stepping on a Lego is going too light on the judge imo. That's a thing I wish on people who do something seriously irksome but with no real harm caused. Like stepping on a Lego.
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Ken Beattie 2 years ago
I find this one hard to make a call on because it's (deliberately) left so vague. We don't know the exact crime, we don't know what the evidence was, we don't know to what extent his story kept changing (or why). If the evidence was "she was in a completely different city to the defendant" then it's understandable finding him not guilty. But we just don't know enough information.
#9
I recently saved an insurance company $2,000 on a settlement with an injured person. Not as exciting as the rest, but it’s one of those quietly sad moments where you question why you even went to law school in the first place.
#10
I do juvenile work, criminal law and family law...
I represented this client first when he was a juvenile charged with disorderly conduct at school and fighting, then when he became an adult it for was for simple things like possession of marijuana.
As he got older, it became easier and easier to figure out what part of his life hasn’t gone as well as it could and I tried to counsel him and push him to better himself.
He got his GED, he started going to NA, he started classes at a community college, and found a part time job.
On the night of his 21st birthday, he was charged with a DWI. Of course I’ll take care of that too.
About 6 months later, we are due in court for trial (on a Monday) and he doesn’t show up; which at this point in his life is highly unusual.
As I’m trying to figure out where he is, the court starts going over Arraignments/First Appearances and then low and behold three people are up for Murder charges. The prosecution starts to tell the judge what the facts/circumstances of the case are and mentions a few victims names.
Apparently, my client was at a party when these three individuals decided to allegedly do a drive by shooting. My client suffered multiple gunshot wounds and didn’t make it to the hospital.
So... by default, as you can’t prosecute a dead person; the State has to take a dismissal. I guess technically a win.
Either way, it was crushing to me as I thought he had really turned his life around. (He had)
EDIT: Wow, this really blew up. Thanks for all the positive comments. And the bling.
Also, since some people asked for clarification or were confused.
1: I truly believe he was on the right path forward.
2: GED = High School Equivalency Diploma
3: NA = Narcotics Anonymous
4: DWI = Driving while impaired
Mumma Cass 2 years ago
This is heartbreaking! You were in my opinion his father figure, a positive role model for him. He is your guardian angel now
shan 2 years ago
I work with Common Thread Utah, we help foster/homeless teens heal their trauma and help them successfully transition from the system to adulthood. You would be amazed at how showing a child love, concern and compassion can change the trajectory of their lives. Most kids just need a guiding light and an open heart. Kudos to this man, I’m so sorry for the tragic ending. My prayers are with everyone.
#11
I represented this construction worker in a divorce. The wife stayed at home with the kids and had no money. Through entire divorce her attorney claimed that my client was hiding money. They had no evidence and the client vehemently denied it.
We had a good settlement in the case and I considered it done. When they client came in a few weeks later to pick his file he thanked me for my work and said “and she never did find the money I hid” he had a big laugh and walked away.
What a d**k.
Shark Lady 2 years ago
Depriving your children just to get back at their other parent makes you lower than the belly of a snake.
#12
I successfully got a kid kicked out of a very good school district because the single mom didn’t live in the Distirct and wanted her daughter out of the shut district she was in. We proved it by videotaping the kid leaving another house outside the district on 7 different occasions.
I was a brand new attorney and had to take the case.
Still feel bad about that.
StrangeOne 2 years ago
I don't understand what's so bad about kids going to a school a bit farther than they live, if that's what the parent feels is best. Isn't that what parents are always supposed to do? Do what's best for their kids?
Wood Carver 2 years ago
While there are good on paper reasons for this rule, the reality I fear is that most school funding systems disproportionately favour one school over another for a variety of reasons (newer, wealthier parents etc). If students are allowed to attend any school the poor or "worse", whatever other undesired group is in vogue like immigrants etc. would be able to send their kids to the good school. No one would send their kid to the poorest school. We cannot have that. So we make arbitrary location based rules to ensure their kids stay where they "belong".
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Mila Preradović 2 years ago
This law is beyond stupid. How did the kid even get to go to school in a first place, don't they have a register af addresses with people living there, and when a child turns the right age they get a letter from the school? Because in my country we do. You can choose to go to different school but only if there is enough free places left after all the kids that belong to the district got in. But once you're in, that's it, you can move to Mars if you want but you don't have to switch schools if you don't want.
Monday 2 years ago
It's government policy in China too. You have to school your kid in the same district you live in. A crazy amount of my students own or rent tiny apartments they've never lived in just so they can send their kid where they want. Hell one of my former students was a (pretty s****y) landlord who loved charging parents exorbitant fees because he knew they would pay.
Load More Replies... Binky Melnik 2 years ago
I’m curious: if you don’t believe our taxes should go to educating kids, then how do you think education should work?
Load More Replies... #13
A divorce and the wife (who I was representing) wanted to give away custody of her 2 children to her husband who clearly didnt want them for her 3 million dollar yacht. Personally I would have her keep both the 3 mil and her children. I still regret winning that case for her.
S Mi 2 years ago
Seriously! Give me the 3 million, I'll raise them (not really, but hopefully someone loves these kids(
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Joe Reaves 2 years ago
I'd say someone who doesn't want the kids giving up custody is generally a win all around. Better for the kids not to have that person in their lives in the long run, even if it's painful short term for them.
Shadow 2 years ago (edited)
But in this case the two parents didn't want the kids. Poor kids
Load More Replies... Gardener of Weeden 2 years ago
Unfortunately - we going to be seeing ALOT of that in the usa.
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Seadog 2 years ago
Sounds like the marriage was on shaky ground and they thought kids would save it. Kids never save the marriage, they only make it worse and the kids suffer the most. A marriage takes work on both parts to work. It doesn't just happen. A fact many do not understand.
Seadog 2 years ago
Then there was one I knew many years ago. He basically just handed the wife the paycheck and would go to bed (worked 3rd shift). He gets up one afternoon, walks downstairs to an empty house. Yep, she took everything except the appliances, his 55 gallon aquarium, his clothes and the bed he was sleeping in. All in less than 8 hours. Taped to the banister was and envelope containing bankruptcy papers. She had filed and forged his name. No bill had been paid in 6 months. She even maxed out her own daughters credit card. She would go shopping with friends, if they paid cash, she'd take the cash and put their purchase on the credit cards and take the cash and buy lottery tickets. At the end of 6 months she had nothing to show for it. Lawyers told him to move on and not to say a word about the forgery or else the creditors would be on him like a pack of wolves. So he and her daughter got an apartment and both started over.
Load More Replies... Sara Wilson 2 years ago
If she WANTED to trade them for a yacht, she's no prize either. I feel sorry for the kids
#14
Prosecuted a murder case. Twenty one year old kid starts dating an older guy's ex-girlfriend. The older guy (real roughneck, loose connections with a local biker gang) was going all over his small town talking about how he was going to kick the kid's a*s. The older guy sends some nudes of the ex while he's getting drunk at a bar, so the kid says something smart a*s in response. Older guy comes to the kid's house to fight him. The kid shoots him once, and the older guy dies. Jury didn't buy self-defense or castle doctrine. Convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Twenty years. Burned up his appeals with no luck.
I have a son about the kid's age. I could totally imagine him doing the exact same things if he were in a similar situation. S**t's going to haunt me until I die. No doubt about it. Started thinking about other work the moment the verdict came back.
Monday 2 years ago
I'm not always the biggest fan of the castle doctrine but damn, how'd the jury not go for self-defense here? I'd be scared as hell if someone who has been going round town proclaiming they're going to beat the c**p out of me showed up at my house.
David 2 years ago
Depends on which states version. Someone comes on your property with intent to harm, you should be fully protected to defend yourself. I wish we had Castle doctrine where I live. In my state, as long as the person it not actively brandishing the weapon at you, or moving towards you with the weapon, you cannot legally do anything other than call police, you cannot even brandish a weapon to scare them off. If you have a gun permit and fire at them if they are not actively pointing their weapon at you, you are in the wrong.
Load More Replies... Seadog 2 years ago
Cop in another town started dating a woman. Her ex called up the cop and told him he was coming to kill him. Cop calls his Captain, tells him what's up. Guy actually shows up, gun in hand. BANG BANG, 1 idiot bought and paid for. So now police, EMTS, IA are all there going over the whole thing when idiots dad shows up, gun in hand. Stupidity seems to run in the family. Dad didn't get shot but I think he did get hauled away.
#15
In one of my first cases after passing the bar exam, a young man retained me on a drunk driving charge. No one was hurt, but he totalled his car.
During trial, the arresting police officer testified that my client was clearly drunk at the accident scene, and that my client was loudly blaming the accident on the f*****g a*****e who stole his car, crashed it, and then fled before the cops arrived.
However, according to two other witness statements tendered into evidence, it was my client’s friend (the passenger) who was screaming about the a*****e who stole the car, not my client (the driver).
The cop must have confused the two men during his testimony.
This discrepancy raised a reasonable doubt in the judge’s mind, so she acquitted my client.
At the time, the acquittal was somewhat unexpected for me (in my personal view, my client was clearly drunk and responsible for the accident, regardless of who was blaming the mystery a*****e to the cops), but I was happy my young client got off, no one was hurt, and lessons were learned. And I was quite euphoric to have won my first criminal case.
The regret? About a month after the acquittal, my young client called me at 3 am from the police station saying “it’s me again! The police arrested me for drunk driving again! Can you help me?”
Not only did I answer no, I instantly regretted getting the earlier acquittal. My client apparently didn’t learn any lessons...
Hans Georg 2 years ago
Don't drink and drive? Just don't drink! People might say I am no fun, because I don't drink. I'm german. I'm no fun at all.
Shark Lady 2 years ago
I'm with you, I've seen too much damage caused by an excess of alcohol and want no part of it. I'm not German but I am no fun!
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Nano Iders 2 years ago (edited)
In the words of Fletcher Reede... "STOP BREAKING THE LAW, A$$HOLE!!!!"
#16
I do family law and I represented a father who had lost most of his custody from heroin use and imprisonment as a result. He came to me saying he was clean and doing good and had his life together and it checked out. He had been clean for almost nine months not counting jail time and seemed sincere in wanting to resume a full relationship with his son. The other side fought viciously to keep him at extremely little custody and supervised at that, but we prevailed and got an order restoring fairly frequent unsupervised partial custody.
Not long afterwards, only about three months after the case, he was back doing heroin, sold most of his furniture, and for me the most soul-crushing is that he set up a fake GoFundMe stuff for his child's "cancer" (his child didn't have cancer and has never had cancer so you know where that money was going). I withdrew my appearance at this point so I don't know what happened afterwards, but I imagine and hope his custody was taken away.
Basically the net result of winning that case was that the poor boy had to witness his father relapse on heroin and was exploited for money. Worst case I ever won.
Little My 2 years ago
You did the right thing at the time. Sometimes you have to give people a second chance, you were not to know it would go that way. He doesn’t deserve a third chance though.
Linda Niemczyk 2 years ago
In my opinion, 9 months isn’t long enough to prove sobriety.
Load More Replies... #17
I helped represent a slumlord in a lawsuit regarding discrimination in public housing based on disability. The state was representing the disabled tenant.
The facts were pretty clear, slumlord discriminated on the basis of disability.
Our state doesn’t have much case law regarding discrimination in housing based on disability. So the state was really hoping to get make case law
We ended up sowing enough doubt to survive the tenants motion for summary judgment. Knowing that the tenant needed money, we made an offer for a decent amount of money for a disabled tenant, but peanuts for the slumlord.
I imagine the state wanted to proceed to trial, but the tenant needed money and accepted.
By gaining the best outcome for our client, we allowed the slumlord to get off basically scot-free and deprived our state of needed case law.
#18
I have handled my fair share of domestic abuse cases....about 90% of which end with dismissals. I never like winning them, but almost always do.
lenka 2 years ago
Multiple reasons. As skyblue said, the victim often drops charges or refuses to be a witness. What I see a lot of in my family law practice is that the perpetrators are often extremely good at manipulation, they can be very very charming and are often excellent at convincing the court that it was an accident or misunderstanding, that they were provoked, that they were the victim and simply defending themselves or just that the victim is straight up lying. They also press charged back (revenge proceedings) and its very difficult for the court to get the bottom of it to determine the truth.
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Sweet Taurus 2 years ago
I have always wondered if my ex's attorney ever felt bad for getting him timed served for what he did to me. We were scheduled to take it to trial (which made me sick with worry because I would have to be in the same room as him) and the day of the trial he took a plea deal that gave him time served (he was in jail for another case at this time) and sentenced him to do 6 months worth of anger management classes. Had we gone to court he would've gotten a prison sentence due to there being substantial bodily harm done to me.
Timmy Pillinger 2 years ago
Percentage outcomes in court is a pointless statistic. There's no outside source of truth. 90% dismissals could be 9 domestic abusers acquitted and on innocent person convicted (100% wrong outcome), or 1 person correctly convicted and 9 innocents acquitted.
Binky Melnik 2 years ago
It’s totally straightforward: 90% of ➡️OP’s⬅️ cases have ended in dismissal. Nowhere does OP say or imply otherwise. Other lawyers’ mileages may vary.
Load More Replies... #19
Settled a personal injury case for a guy and he was set to get about $5000. He was in jail. I held the money for a couple months and when he got out he came by to get the money without delay. The next day the cops came around and asked if I knew him. I explained that I did. I was told he died that night of an overdose and the only thing found on him was my card, some drugs he had not yet used, and a needle.
Spocks's Mom 2 years ago
If you're in jail and haven't "partaken" in a while, you don't know what your dose is anymore. Also, depending how long he's been in jail, he could have gotten laced "product" and not known it. I've had so many people in my life o.d.😔
Invisigoth (he/him) 2 years ago
i'm so so sorry that happened, sending interwebz hugs
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Ken Beattie 2 years ago
If the only thing they found was some drugs and no money it's entirely possible he didn't accidentally overdose either. Make me wonder if he flashed a roll of money when he bought the drugs and was rolled because of it. Of course that only works if he took the money in cash.
#20
Late post so this will probably get buried. This is another family law story, using a throwaway because some of my colleagues use Reddit.
Summer of 2018 I get work regarding what seemed, from the client's description, a pretty drawn out and messy divorce case. The husband was my client, and he made it seem, very adamantly, that his soon to be ex-wife was after his every penny. Given he seemed to have a fairly high paying job, it seemed like a pretty common type of case, the city I work in has many instances of this, it has a high cost of living and a lot of well-paid working professionals in private industry. He was a very well spoken, amicable guy in his late 50s, and truly seemed like he'd been taken by surprise and betrayed by his soon to be ex-wife.
When I actually got to the case, however, I was basically floored.
His wife was a working professional as well, worked in government, they'd been married for over twenty years and had two kids together, and a paid off house. Before taxes he made almost three times what she did, not counting his stock options, and yet she'd contributed equally to their mortgage on every home they'd owned over the course of the marriage. By all accounts, despite a vast difference in income, she'd carried her weight, raised two kids, and worked full time during the entirety of the marriage. I live and work in Canada, she could have *easily* raked him over the coals in the divorce if it had gone to court.
Instead, it seemed like she'd done everything she possibly could to not have him subjected to that. This divorce had been ongoing for five years before he hired me, and it was basically him looking a gift horse in the mouth over and over, a constant renegotiation on the contract they'd both signed initially, with him skimping on alimony and then debating on lesser terms. He was basically given an inch and tried to take a mile, dragging it out for so long that per divorce law it *had* to go to court. I almost suspect he did so as a way to try and drag her through the mud, though he may have genuinely been that delusional.
I consider it a win only because his ex-wife was adamant about only wanting what was somewhat fair, and for it to be over because of the strain it was having on the family. Per the contract he owed her, still, about 50k in backpay, but she was content with 15k, which was less than this guy made in a month. I did regret the 'win' though, she seemed like a very nice woman with the patience of a saint, while almost all of his anger towards her seemed to come from wounded ego.
Edit: I should also note that though they had two kids together, both were in their 20s by the time I was hired, and custody had never been an issue at all, even for the one who had been a minor when they'd separated.
Quarryville 2 years ago
The parents marriage lasted over 20 years and they had children, who (the children) were in their 20's.
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#21
I helped a guy successfully sue his ex-fiancée for the engagement ring after the relationship ended due to "third-party interference" on his part. It was wild--and wildly depressing.
Little My 2 years ago
So he cheated on her and then was low enough to want to grab the ring back too?
Neb Skram 2 years ago
i know it sounds kooky buy an engagement ring is part of a contract if the marriage don't happen she will need to give ring back had a friend go through that he gave her a big fat $35k ring then she decided she did not want to get married right now but also did not want to give ring back as he "gave" it to her so he took her to court come to find out she had pawned the ring and judge had a fit about that lol made her get it out of p**n and give it back
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Nikki Angulo 2 years ago
I think if he cheated on her, then he broke the deal, and does not get the ring back. If she cheated on him, then she broke the deal and should give it back. If they both cheated, well then do it the King Solomon way!
#22
I work in medical malpractice defense. Once I had a obstetrician/gynecologist who burned a patient during a procedure. When I met with the doctor, he lied to me throughout the representation over 16 months saying he had no idea how it happened. There is a doctrine in law called "res ipsa" meaning absent some sort of negligence, this accident could not have occurred.
Woman came in without a burn, and after the procedure, the woman left with a burn. There's no way this doctor didn't know what had happened. The area of the burn was where he was operating on. It wasn't until I brought up settlement, because this was not a case we could win did he say, "oh maybe I do know what happened." We ultimately settled that case, which is considered a favorable outcome considering the potential high monetary verdict. Sometimes I think this doctor really ought to have lost that case and their license.
Monday 2 years ago
It could have been an accident. They should definitely have lost the case and had some sort of consequence (perhaps mandatory training and supervision for X amount of time) but if this was just an accident they don't deserve their career ruined. They absolutely shouldn't have lied about it though, but I'm guessing the hospital administration would prefer the surgeon lie to say "I'm so sorry I accidentally burned you with the cauterizing pen during the procedure" since that gives the patient everything they need to sue anyway.
Mary Kelly 2 years ago
the difference b/w negligence and "just an accident" in this case is whether there was foreseeble harm and the doctor took reasonable steps to avoid the harm...since the doctor didn't even bother to put on a defense, i.e., explain what happened and why he or she could not avoid it by exercising reasonable care, res ipsa says that the surgery he or she performed caused the accident and, therefore, he or she was liable...perfectly fair....clearly the doctor knew what happened and that he or she was negligent or he/she would have raised a defense....doctors should be held to the same standards as engineers, architects, lawyers, etc...and, btw, almost every statistical analysis of malpractice cases shows that doctors who admit to a mistake are rarely ever found liable of malpractice....and, if most people actually read these studies, they would be shocked to learn that most medical malpractice goes unreported, rarely goes to trial, and rarely ever leads to a large settlement or verdict...
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Seadog 2 years ago
Doc did 2 surgeries on my wife for something that could've/should've been done in one and even then still failed to complete it. It resulted in her kidney dying. So now we're out of $100k, she's lost a kidney and we still have to go to another doc to have said kidney removed. Only thing stopping us from suing is lack of any official standing up against the first surgeon (butcher). I'm not one for suing but this jerk really deserves it.
#23
Little late to the party, but I’ve got one I still think about a lot. Worked in criminal defense, represented a guy in a DUI. He had priors, so another conviction meant time, loss of license, problems. Long story short, he was pulled over by police after they followed him leaving a bar. At trial I elicited admissions from the arresting officer that during the 2.5 miles he followed him for, he did not observe a single moving violation - no speeding, erratic driving, driving over the lines, blowing stop signs, running red lights. Didn’t even “stop suddenly” at red lights. Also got the DRE officer to testify that the accused only spoke Spanish and they couldn’t get an interpreter officer to the roadside to explain the field sobriety exercises, which the officers documented the accused “refused to perform.” Jury came back in 15 minutes. Guy was extremely grateful, and his lovely family was very gracious in thanking me and our office. Feel good about the whole thing.
Couple months later I’m in county to meet with a client, and I see him in one of the pods. Find out sometime after the trial he violently sexually assaulted his 8 year old step-daughter.
Think about that one a lot.
Edit: The comments have helped. Thanks.
Abby Palmer 2 years ago
Wow... Just wow... People are scumbags... This is why I prefer animals...
Daffydillz~ 2 years ago
Absolutely, even the venomous, stinging, or poisonous varieties, because at least you're only in danger when they're defending themselves if they're scared, they don't set out to harm anyone on purpose.
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Niall Mac Iomera 2 years ago
So the cop just watched him drive through multiple stop signs, traffic lights etc, and didn't do anything?
Binky Melnik 2 years ago
Look again: “[the officer] did not observe a single moving violation - no speeding, erratic driving, driving over the lines, blowing stop signs, running red lights.” The “no” negates everything that comes after, meaning he did none of those things.
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#24
I wouldn't say I regret this so much as to this day it amazes me. As a first year associate I was given a (terrible) PI case where my client received a flu shot and thereafter felt pain in his shoulder. He went to another doctor who performed an MRI and determined he had a torn rotator cuff, which was undoubtedly not related. My job was to allege the flu shot caused the rotator cuff tear. Our ortho actually correlated the two (which is the more regrettable position) and the case paid out.
Being the bottom of the totem pole I had no choice but to take the case, which was handed down by a partner. But at the same time, just overwhelmingly made me feel like the worst stereotyped attorney and just hated having to walk into court on it and feel my reputation being destroyed.
Shark Lady 2 years ago
What a waste of resources, although I'm guessing the client got at least part of his medical treatment covered.
Bubs623 2 years ago
Actually, there is a thing where an incorrectly injected shot or vaccine can cause an injury. It's called SHIRVA or SIRVA. Shoulder injury related to vaccine administration. My 22 year old daughter had her bursa pierced and a tendon torn due to her Covid vaccine. If it had been any other vaccine, the us gov would have paid for her medical bills but because the Covid shots were 'public health' they didn't. She had several MRI's and still should have surgery. Never ever a problem with her shoulder before. We didn't sue, we wouldn't have even if it wasn't the Covid shot. But it can happen.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago
That's interesting. I looked it up after reading your account, it perfectly explains how the person in the story was successful. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6347325/
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Justin Thyme 2 years ago
You had a choice. You could have quit honorably and gone elsewhere. Instead you played scumbag lawyer, and make excuses.
#25
I did some custody work early in my career and won some cases more on the merit of my trial skills than on the merit of the parents. The thing with family law work in general is that there is essentially no bar to entry - anybody with a law degree and a pulse can get a family law practice up and running quickly because there is just an absolute glut of work. What that also means is that 75%+ of the lawyers practicing family law are clueless and awful. Early in my career I certainly was clueless, but at the least I was not awful. Therefore, in a battle between clueless+awful versus just clueless, clueless usually won.
So yeah, I can't recall any specific cases, except to say that fighting over children in court is a terrible thing and basically everyone loses. I regret that entire portion of my career.
lenka 2 years ago
While this thread shows that being a lawyer can be ethically challenging at times, it is important to remember that a world in which no one is entitled to legal representation is scary indeed. Imagine how many MORE indigenous, ethnic and/or minority individuals would be incarcerated, how many more women would be dead from DV, how many innocent people would be languishing in jail. BLM would not have any legs, corporations would walk all over consumer rights and the environment would be significantly worse off than it is. *Most* lawyers work hard to do the right thing, to act ethically with the knowledge available to them. Sometimes it sucks... but more often than not, most of us are able to work within a s****y system to create outcomes we can be proud of.
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#26
The one I particular hated happened at my first law job. This woman was a long term client of my boss. In the past ten years or so, she has been caught driving under the influence 8 times, violated home incarceration countless times, been caught with controlled substances a few times, and stabbed two people on home incarceration. My boss at the time was the master of getting people off for DUI’s so she had only been convicted of a DUI third and always managed to stay on home incarceration with whatever releases she desired. I always regretted her cases because that woman is truly a danger to the public. She’s undoubtedly going to kill someone someday. But I’ll be damned if she isn’t the luckiest woman alive in getting away with DUIs.
Justin Thyme 2 years ago
And you wonder why lawyers are rated beneath used car salesmen in trust.....
Binky Melnik 2 years ago
Just so we’re clear: you don’t believe that everyone deserves competent legal defense? That … what, that arrested people should be put in jail to serve time without being tried? If you yourself get in legal trouble, you’ll want a lawyer even though you don’t trust them as much as a used car salesman, won’t you? I wouldn’t envy you in your search for legal representation, that’s for sure.
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#27
Divorce case, represented wife who was pissed because husband left her for another (younger, thinner) woman.
Wife reported that their young daughter made a comment about something that could be interpreted as molestation by her father (i.e. the husband). The only conceivable corroboration about the comment would have come from the daughter’s testimony, but the daughter was so young that her credibility would be suspect, and nobody wanted to put her through the ordeal of testifying against her father.
There was no possibility of criminal prosecution of the father, because there was no other evidence of molestation. But the wife pushed for sole custody and a requirement that the father would only get supervised visitation for the next year or so. We/she won.
I’ll never know for sure what happened between the father and daughter, but the more I think about in retrospect, the more I doubt that justice was served.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago (edited)
Indeed, if it's true then the Father is a monster and got away with it. If it's not then the Mother is a monster for falsely painting the Father that way to win the case. Something like that has got to be horrible for a lawyer who is a good person to have to think about.
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#28
My client made a lot of promises to his staff and never had planed to keep them. Was sued, won. I hated every second of the case.
#29
work for a lawyer, most ill say is we won a guy a fat fat stack of cash and he gambled it all away within 2 weeks. My bosses jaw hit the floor when he heard that.
#30
I won a summary judgment motion, that my firm filed not expecting to win. We had a decent argument, but odds were way worse than a coin flip and judges don't like granting summary judgment because it's an extreme remedy.
Client initially was thrilled--"case is over"--we tried to break the news gently...nope. Three years later we're back in the same spot we were before we "won" our motion. The other side appealed it up to the state supreme court and won (because the Supreme Court said the trial judge should have denied our motion). So, we are back at square one. North of $100k in legal bills, with no resolution. Maybe it'll settle, maybe it will go to trial. I'll find out in the next 3-4 months.
ETA: clarified my parenthetical
Sarah M. 2 years ago
Put simply the first judge said one side won before all the evidence was heard because he didn't see anything to make him believe they would lose, so he ruled in their favor to save time. Highly unusual. The losing side said hell na and asked some boss judges, the state's high court, to review the case. After a long delay, the high court found that the first judge was wrong to make the decision he did and required the winning side to present their evidence after all. This cost them extra money and three extra years of time. And they still might lose.
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#31
I worked in Criminal Law my first summer of Law School. My first case was defending a Large 6’2” teenage gang member who stabbed a rival gang member in the temple with a pencil with deadly results. I was put in charge of the motion drafting and research under a supervising attorney. I also had several conversations with this young man but he was remarkably well-spoken so I never felt like he was an actual killer (even though he admittedly was one). I remember working really hard in the library for hours looking for helpful case law. It felt great in the moment to help your client in any way possible and put up the best defense. Ultimately, they conditionally discharged him, which is Family Court (since he was a juvenile) parlance for 1 year probation, I remember my emotions immediately shifting from relief to guilt/fear. I questioned the entire practice area that could allow a killer to walk the streets because of good legal work and I ultimately decided it was not for me. No judgment to any Criminal Attorneys, just not for me. Now I’m a happy-ish Real Estate Attorney; and by happy-ish I mean kill me now.
RedMarbles 2 years ago
"Kill me now" is a common attitude among those who went to law school in my experience. Any of you American kids on BP take note (can't speak for the well-being of lawyers in other countries, but I suspect it may be similar). Not that I don't believe we need lawyers to do all the lawyering jobs, but there's been a surplus in the US for some time anyway. Save yourselves. And don't believe anyone trying to sell you on any alleged versatility of a legal degree either.
Shark Lady 2 years ago
Boring and safe versus exciting and terrifying (with a side portion of guilt).
#32
I've posted about this before. I defended a death case, representing the insurance company. A man had a brain injury due to a car accident, and died six months later. His family sued my client.
I've never seen a lazier effort on behalf of a Plaintiff. The Plaintiff firm immediately handed the case over to a junior associate. She barely did anything with it. We had settlement negotiations but they were way too high considering the lack of actual medical evidence they had come up with to link the death to the car accident. It probably was related, but you can't walk into court with that argument and no evidence to support it. That seemed to be their plan.
On the eve of trial I told o/c to accept the settlement but she refused. I told her she would lose because I was going to get all of her "evidence" thrown out. Still, they went to trial.
The partner that was supposed to be there with her didn't show up because his dog was sick. No joke. As I predicted, all of her evidence was thrown out. The family was crying. I won but I didn't feel great about it.
The Judge was appalled. I'm sure the firm was sued for legal malpractice. The young associate was gone within weeks.
#33
Got late to the party, but this story still makes me sad and angry. Not me, but my ex-boss. Civil matters. The firm represented a large construction company here in my country. They built and sold 30 houses (in Spanish; en un Fraccionamiento). There is a lot of corruption going on here in Mexico, and in this case, the company paid off a large amount to not follow construction regulations and save some money. Turns out, some years (I believe it was 2 years) after all the houses were sold, there was a massive water malfunction which led to flooding, and 85% of the houses collapsed or were inhabitable, the construction company being at fault. The people obviously sued for the prices of their homes and damages of furniture etc., but they could no longer because the legal figure they could use (wrongful construction) had already prescribed (passed the time to legally make a claim). My ex boss is a very gentle soul and a great guy. He always remembers that case as the worst one, and says everyone to reject similar ones because the guilt is way too consuming. People lost their houses, their furniture, their electronics.., and most had mortgage or similar debts in order to pay for them. Breaks my heart.
#34
Not really “winning” but I recently had a case settle where my client was so obviously lying it was painful. He was in a fender bender and said he was too disabled to drive or to work at the office as a result, and that his employer fired him after he had been on disability leave for almost a year. A few months after filing, we discovered that he played in a national, amateur, full-contact football league and there was footage of him getting tackled, endzone dancing, and tackling during the time he claimed he was too hurt to sit at a desk. Even when I confronted him on it, he claimed he hadn’t played while he was injured—despite having a stat line and footage of him playing from games dated on days he was supposedly getting physical therapy. We didn’t settle for as much as most of my cases but he still walked away with like $20k. I’m happy to be a plaintiff’s attorney for the most part because my clients have typically been wronged but he was such a bald-faced liar it really pissed me off. EDIT: It’s worth noting that (embarrassingly) opposing counsel brought it to our attention after they spoke to some of his former coworkers who recalled him bragging about being in the league.
#35
As a personal injury attorney, I've seen a few clients win the "blue collar lotto" or getting more money than they reasonably know how to deal with. I do my best to educate them, but my job is to try and maximize their recovery, not teach them finance. I have definitely contributed to a few drug habits.
#36
I've had a few. Debt collection cases, evictions are up there. Especially this time of year. I have been appointed on some child abuse/neglect cases where I kept out evidence that was pretty damning. I had a client who I got released on probation on a drug charge. He was killed the next day in a drug deal gone wrong. You learn to distance yourself from the case emotionally and do your job or you don't last long.
#37
There was a case that I saw that involved a claim with fee shifting - meaning that if the plaintiff won, their attorneys’ fees would get paid by the defendant. Defendant pushed an aggressive legal position at trial that the judge agreed with, and won, avoiding a few thousand in liability to the plaintiff and a few thousand in attorneys’s fees. So far so good. But then the plaintiff appeals all the way to the state’s high court, requiring a ton of briefing and time. High court agrees with plaintiff, reverses and sends back to the trial court, which now enters judgement against the defendant for a few thousand in damages against the plaintiff and tens and tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees from the appeal. The defense lawyer probably regretted winning at first on that aggressive argument to the trial court.
#38
I'm a clerk for an appellate judge so my winning and losing only really takes place when I try to convince the judge (and the rest of the panel) to take a certain view on a case. I recently "lost" and a guy I definitely think committed the sex crime he's alleged of is going to walk. I have to write the opinion which makes it sting a lot worse too.
#39
Recently I won a case where my client had made a very bad decision causing a terrible accident and I truly believed that the plaintiff was hurt in the accident and deserved compensation. But she was an awful witness—plus her whole life was basically a huge mess which made it really hard for her attorney to pinpoint for the jury exactly what issues were related to the accident. The jury gave her a judgment that was half the amount of the medical bills, and that was completely offset by no-fault insurance payments. So she walked away from trial with $0. The flip side is that we made her a decent offer prior to trial, so she could have had thousands of dollars had she settled.
#40
The one where the client never paid. [edit: Clarification/explanation; when I was a young associate, I was assigned to do a civil commercial trial for a client that was not happy with the senior partner. He stopped paying. We moved to withdraw. The court refused to allow us to withdraw and forced us to go to trial. Spend a significant amount of time in trial prep., etc. I win the trial. Client never pays (client's position was that my boss screwed up the deal and that there never should have been a dispute/trial to begin with). Firm policy prohibits us from suing clients because that causes a drastic increase in malpractice premiums--9 times out of 10 if you sue a client for nonpayment, they will countersue for malpractice]
RedMarbles 2 years ago
If this is the US, the rules of professional conduct require that lawyers zealously represent their clients. Not that it always happens.
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What do you think ?
Binky Melnik 2 years ago
My cousin represented 50 men who were raped by the priest at their Catholic church when they were kids. He won, and got every one of them a lotta money to get them the therapy so many of them desperately needed. His victory was reported around the world, as the Catholic Church had never been involved in a case like that on such a scale. He was hailed as a “hero,” and you can snarl all you want that he isn’t, but a lotta people think he is. And he’s not the only one out there doing good things. I dare say the lawyers fighting human trafficking are bigger heroes, as are the ones fighting racial injustice, people who beat, maim, and/or kill gay and transgender folks, and corporations who destroy helpless people are heroes as well. But you keep telling yourself how awful all lawyers are as if it makes a difference.
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Sara Ellis 2 years ago
I'm an ex police office (in the uk) when you start you get sent to a unit for minor crimes. I caught one that I really put all my new found zeal into and got the alleged assault suspect into interview and then presented it to the prosocution, the decided to got to trial I knew he had not done it, i collected evidance of his good work record and spotless criminal record, however the "alleged victim" was a serial complainer against everyone from the street clearner to the post man. I wouldn't even sit with the "victim" before the trial, instead I sat with the defendent, I liked Bill and his good wife. However he was still convicted, I wish I never even saw that case.
Binky Melnik 2 years ago
My cousin represented 50 men who were raped by the priest at their Catholic church when they were kids. He won, and got every one of them a lotta money to get them the therapy so many of them desperately needed. His victory was reported around the world, as the Catholic Church had never been involved in a case like that on such a scale. He was hailed as a “hero,” and you can snarl all you want that he isn’t, but a lotta people think he is. And he’s not the only one out there doing good things. I dare say the lawyers fighting human trafficking are bigger heroes, as are the ones fighting racial injustice, people who beat, maim, and/or kill gay and transgender folks, and corporations who destroy helpless people are heroes as well. But you keep telling yourself how awful all lawyers are as if it makes a difference.
Load More Replies... Sara Ellis 2 years ago
I'm an ex police office (in the uk) when you start you get sent to a unit for minor crimes. I caught one that I really put all my new found zeal into and got the alleged assault suspect into interview and then presented it to the prosocution, the decided to got to trial I knew he had not done it, i collected evidance of his good work record and spotless criminal record, however the "alleged victim" was a serial complainer against everyone from the street clearner to the post man. I wouldn't even sit with the "victim" before the trial, instead I sat with the defendent, I liked Bill and his good wife. However he was still convicted, I wish I never even saw that case.
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