Beware: Do you really want this person as your client?

For a busy lawyer, there is nothing worse than a bad client.

Bad clients can appear in many forms, but they share a number of common traits.

For instance, bad clients:

• will not listen to your advice;
• are unappreciative of your efforts;
• are time consuming; and
• do not pay their bill on time, or at all.

By handling the affairs of a bad client, you now are less available to a good client. Your time is spent in an enterprise both unsatisfying and financially unrewarding. Have the courage to just say “no.”

Greg Lawless offers this quick list of five questions to ask yourself when considering whether to take on that client -- you know the one -- the client that raises the hair on the back of your neck. Ask yourslef these five questions. If the answer to any one of them is not a resounding "YES!" then seriously reconsider.

1. Is the case a good one?
2. Do you communicate well with the client?
3. Does this case make financial sense?
4. Can I do the matter efficiently and effectively?
5. Do I really want to do this?
   

http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/newlawyer/2004/feb/badclient.html