Being
a
lawyer
can
be
an
extremely
stressful
job.
Attorneys
often
need
to
contend
with
antagonistic
adversaries
who
can
make
the
life
of
a
counterpart
a
living
hell.
In
addition,
lawyers
may
have
to
handle
clients
who
can
make
it
difficult
to
complete
a
representation.
As
mentioned
in
a
prior
article,
it
is
not
uncommon
for
clients
to
provide
gifts
to
lawyers
in
order
to
thank
them
for
a
job
well
done.
However,
most
of
the
time,
the
only
thank
you
a
lawyer
gets
from
a
client
(even
if
the
attorney
goes
above
and
beyond
normal
expectations)
is
getting
paid
on
time,
and
this
is
almost
always
a
sufficient
expression
of
gratitude
from
clients.
I
learned
this
fact
of
practicing
law
earlier
in
my
career
when
I
was
an
associate
at
a
smaller
shop.
The
partner
and
I
were
working
for
a
particularly
needy
client,
the
type
of
person
who
would
email
you
a
second
time
if
the
first
email
was
not
responded
to
within
a
few
hours.
We
needed
to
spend
three
times
the
energy
on
this
client
than
on
any
other
client
we
worked
for
at
that
firm
because
the
client’s
demands
were
over
the
top,
and
the
client
made
a
mountain
out
of
a
mole
hill
for
each
stage
of
the
litigation
process.
I
think
I
said
offhand
that
the
client
should
be
grateful
that
we
were
willing
to
handle
such
issues
from
the
client
and
that
we
still
did
quality
work
on
the
file.
The
partner
said
that
the
client
thanked
us
by
paying
us
on
time.
The
partner
was
of
course
right,
and
lawyers
often
need
to
work
with
needy
clients
as
well
as
solid
clients
when
building
their
practice.
On
numerous
times
in
my
career,
I
have
gone
above
and
beyond
for
my
clients,
and
receiving
on-time
payment
was
just
about
the
only
expression
of
thanks
I
ever
got
(which
was
fine
by
me).
One
time,
right
at
the
beginning
of
the
COVID-19
pandemic,
I
handled
a
deal
for
a
flat
fee.
Due
to
the
complexities
of
COVID-19,
the
deal
required
around
quadruple
the
time
that
a
typical
closing
took.
Moreover,
because
of
the
uncertainty
of
the
economic
climate
in
the
early
months
of
the
pandemic,
my
client
wanted
out
of
the
deal.
I
cautioned
that
backing
out
of
the
deal
could
create
significant
legal
liability
for
my
client.
My
client
was
unhappy
to
hear
my
advice
and
said
some
hurtful
comments
to
me.
This
was
tough
to
hear,
especially
since
I
was
working
so
hard
on
his
deal
for
a
very
modest
fee.
The
deal
ended
up
going
on
without
a
hitch,
and
as
we
all
know,
the
economy
rebounded
pretty
quickly
after
the
initial
downturn.
This
made
my
client’s
deal
much,
much
more
favorable
than
what
the
client
could
have
gotten
six
months
in
the
future,
and
it
would
have
been
extremely
misguided
to
cancel
the
deal.
The
client
never
apologized
for
saying
hurtful
comments
and
never
thanked
me
for
giving
him
good
advice
about
the
deal.
And
I
never
needed
such
thanks
since
on-time
payment
by
the
client
was
enough
of
a
thank
you
for
me.
Another
deal
I
handled
also
required
me
to
go
above
and
beyond
the
normal
workload
for
lawyers.
For
deals
of
this
type,
it
was
typical
to
handle
payments
through
wire
transfer.
However,
I
once
represented
a
client
who
wanted
me
to
go
to
the
closing
in
person
and
pick
up
the
client’s
payment.
It
was
a
schlepp
to
go
to
the
closing,
but
I
wanted
to
make
the
client
happy,
so
I
agreed.
The
client
also
required
that
I
hand-deliver
the
check
with
the
closing
proceeds
to
the
client
to
avoid
the
possibility
that
the
check
would
be
lost
in
the
mail.
The
whole
ordeal
took
almost
an
entire
day
since
I
had
to
drive
to
attend
the
closing,
attend
the
closing
for
about
an
hour,
and
the
drop
off
the
check
to
the
client
before
driving
home.
When
I
delivered
the
check
to
the
client,
I
never
received
gratitude
of
any
kind
despite
all
of
my
effort.
Perhaps
the
client
did
not
know
how
atypical
all
of
this
work
was,
but
in
my
mind,
I
was
fine
with
just
accepting
the
client’s
payment
as
gratitude
enough
for
all
of
this
work.
All
told,
sometimes
lawyers
go
above
and
beyond
for
their
clients
in
extraordinary
ways,
and
clients
do
not
explicitly
thank
their
lawyers
for
such
efforts.
However,
lawyers
should
have
a
mindset
that
payment
by
a
client
is
enough
of
a
thank
you,
since
we
are
in
a
service
industry
where
compensation
and
repeat
business
is
usually
thanks
enough.
Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of
The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of
Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at
jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.