Some perspective please - am I being too petty?
Feb 24, 2017 2:03:45 GMT -5
Post by traveltheworld on Feb 24, 2017 2:03:45 GMT -5
A few years ago, DH's long-time friend (let's call him T), wanted to get into business with a few other people. As a favour, I said I'd help him with the legal aspect of it. I work in Big Law so this is not something I'd typically do, but since DH and T have been friends for decades, I decided to help out to make sure he is not taken advantage of. He negotiated a terrible deal, and I told him so at the time; but despite my advice, he went through with it. I never charged him for my legal bill.
Predictably, things have gone south. So a few weeks ago, T came to me for help. Again, I agreed. I had no intention of charging him since there's no way he could afford my rate. But he is in a really bad situation and I feel bad for them. T and his wife (S) keep wanting to pursue litigation, and I keep telling them that you can't litigate out of a bad business deal. Throughout this process, I've tried my best to help them, even to the point of trading in personal favours at the firm to get our top litigators to provide advice without billing. Anyways, I just got an email from T saying that they'd like to pursue litigation, then an email from S saying that since they are going that route, they'd like to go with the litigators at the firm she works at (she is an administrator for that firm).
On one hand, I'm relieved. I really don't want to deal with this anymore; and realistically, if they want to pursue litigation, there's no way they can afford my firm's rates. But I'm just irked at the tone of her email - not even a thank you for my efforts, or anything. It literally was 2 lines.
DH is furious. He thinks at the minimum, they could have phrased things better. But DH has been annoyed for a while now because they always call/email me during off hours and have a tendency to corner me during social functions (our kids play soccer together) to talk about this. So I'm not sure if his perspective on this one incident is accurate.
What do you wise ladies think? Do I have a right to be annoyed?
FWIW - I responded right away and said that I think using a litigator from that firm is a great idea, and it makes sense to move the whole file over since then the corporate side and the litigation side could work more closely together. I kept it very cordial.
Predictably, things have gone south. So a few weeks ago, T came to me for help. Again, I agreed. I had no intention of charging him since there's no way he could afford my rate. But he is in a really bad situation and I feel bad for them. T and his wife (S) keep wanting to pursue litigation, and I keep telling them that you can't litigate out of a bad business deal. Throughout this process, I've tried my best to help them, even to the point of trading in personal favours at the firm to get our top litigators to provide advice without billing. Anyways, I just got an email from T saying that they'd like to pursue litigation, then an email from S saying that since they are going that route, they'd like to go with the litigators at the firm she works at (she is an administrator for that firm).
On one hand, I'm relieved. I really don't want to deal with this anymore; and realistically, if they want to pursue litigation, there's no way they can afford my firm's rates. But I'm just irked at the tone of her email - not even a thank you for my efforts, or anything. It literally was 2 lines.
DH is furious. He thinks at the minimum, they could have phrased things better. But DH has been annoyed for a while now because they always call/email me during off hours and have a tendency to corner me during social functions (our kids play soccer together) to talk about this. So I'm not sure if his perspective on this one incident is accurate.
What do you wise ladies think? Do I have a right to be annoyed?
FWIW - I responded right away and said that I think using a litigator from that firm is a great idea, and it makes sense to move the whole file over since then the corporate side and the litigation side could work more closely together. I kept it very cordial.