Fall. Times to restock the supplies, restore the verve for new projects, resolve to make more, do more and be more in the weeks that close out the year.

One way to restock is to look at paper, ink cartridges, printers, and anything else that is mechanical. All mechanical things have an unsettling way of knowing when to break down. Does the attorney need papers scanned in? That’s when the scanner goes haywire. Does the attorney have a trial coming up? That’s when the color printer for exhibits crashes. Does the paralegal have time to enter? That’s when the database that captures time for the attorney goes haywire. Does the courthouse have a date set for a trial? That’s when a clerk signs up too many cases to too many judges and the case the firm was gearing up for gets moved into the future. Sigh.

So what is a firm to do? The simple answer is to review all the possible things that can break down. In our case, this is quite simple. Do the scanners work? Check. Do the printers work? Check. Does the database work? Check. Can we stop case assignment mistakes? No, we can’t. But we can check online and monitor when our case comes up, who the judge is and what courtroom is assigned.

Another way to restock is less material and more practical. Plan ahead. Plot out those hearings and trials, briefs and research. Plan the motions and depositions. Hook up the G.P.S. Find the numbers to call to see if the State snow plows have cleared a path to court. If the snowplows in your neck of the woods are unreliable, locate and reserve hotel rooms online to be absolutely sure to get to the court on time. Get tire chains, heavy winter coats and any other winter gear and put them into the truck of your car. Check your tire pressure and fluids weekly in the cold months. Don’t forget the jumper cables either.

November is nature’s way of telling you that humans are not in control. Nature is. Man may propose solutions, but nature will dispose of you if you are not prepared.

My fee agreement says I don’t charge for normal overhead. That means that I don’t charge for “in-house” copying, scanning, faxing or telephone calls. I also don’t charge for normal postage. But I do charge for things like FedEx, Kinko’s copying/scanning etc. I also charge for long-distance and international calls.

Many lawyers, though, do charge for these things. Why? Personally I think it’s because they don’t calculate their overhead correctly. Theoretically, overhead should cover all these things. But some lawyers (maybe to keep their hourly rates looking low) bill these things separately. Of course, others just do it to run up the bill. I don’t.

Your lawyer wrote a sentence in a legal document referring to “my sister’s, D.Z. Kaufman’s, partner”. Who is being referred to? The partner of my lawyer’s sister? The partner of your sister? Your lawyer’s sister is your partner? Your sister is your lawyer’s partner? My partner who is not my sister? My sister’s partner? Some other person? Maybe I should write it as “my, D.Z. Kaufman’s, sister’s partner?” Clearly it can be very confusing. Worse, you could end up describing the wrong person.

But there are solutions. One is to define who are the people are at the beginning of the document. Lot’s of lawyers do that. But it can make the document really boring to read. Another solution is to break it into several sentences: “I am D.Z. Kaufman. My sister is Amy. Amy’s partner is Sarah. Sarah …” Another solution is: “My sister Amy’s partner, Sarah, …” Another solution is to drop all the family relationships entirely and just discuss “Sarah.” The choice can be important depending on what you (the client) want to do.

That’s why grammar and precision are so important. It’s also why lawyers, many times, are excessively precise. Finally, it’s why a lot of legal documents can seem silly. But if you are not sufficiently precise, a brawl will start the minute people start looking at what was actually written, not what was intended.

Call me when the fun starts.

I. Do you know someone? Check Facebook.

II. Where were you? Check Facebook.

III. What were you doing? Check Facebook.

IV. Were you bullied or being a bully? Check Facebook.

V. How much do you make? Check Facebook

VI. Where do you shop? Check Facebook

VII. What “toys” do you have? Check Facebook

VIII. What is your health? Check Facebook

IX. Were you injured? Check Facebook

X. Are you litigation happy? Check Facebook

XI. Do you use drugs or alcohol? Check Facebook

XII. Do you have an opinion about ***? Check Facebook.

It’s absolutely amazing what a wonderful free investigative tool Facebook is. Keep in mind, if you are on Facebook the other side is watching you all the way.

If you have any of these things, should you encrypt them? Well, if you have anything you wish to keep private you should. What? You think only those with something to hide should use encryption? Well, do you have any PINs for your credit or debit cards? What about your Social Security Number? How about any private information about your bank accounts? What about legal materials from your lawyer? A draft will perhaps? You do have important private information you don’t want bandied about. And you aren’t in any way disreputable.

So what do you do? Well, encryption is cheap and easy. I use TruCrypt but there are others. I’m not going to endorse any specific software. But you should use something.

By the way, use it on your smartphone too.

Lawyers are the professionals you hire when you are working on the nuts and bolts of your life. Litigation lawyers are the ones you hire when those nuts and bolts in your life go bad.

Here are a few points to remember.

1. Read your retainer letter carefully.

2. Re-read the retainer letter so that you will understand what your attorney needs.

3. Sign the retainer letter.

4. Send the signed retainer letter and the check for the retainer to your attorney so he can start working on your case.

5. Pay your bills on time. Do not try to renegotiate the cost of the litigation as soon as you see the bill.

6. Turn over any and all materials related to the case. Do this as soon as he asks for them. The more information he has starting out and the sooner he gets it, the better he can help you.

7. Search for more information you think might be relevant. Just because he didn’t ask for it does not mean it’s not important.

8. Don’t surprise him with additional material or changes in your testimony at deposition or trial.

9. Don’t make him guess what information and documents you have.

10. Be completely honest with him throughout the case.

11. Give him a cast of characters with all contact information and your assessment of whether or not they are on your side.

12. Make a list of all the people who will testify against you.

13. Prepare a timeline with key events highlighted.

14. Return his calls in a timely manner.

15. Tell him when something new has come up in the case. Let him know when you have found more papers you need to turn over.

16. Call him when you have questions. If he cannot talk to you when you call, schedule a time to call him back. Leave a message with your questions on your case, either on his voicemail or with his associate/paralegal. That way he can be prepared to answer them when you call back.

17. When you turn over the materials, make sure you keep a copy for yourself. If you need to keep the originals, then scan the documents and email them to him.

18. Tell your attorney whenever you will be unavailable for a scheduled deposition. Do this as soon as possible to give him time to change deposition or hearing dates.

19. Make time to meet with him for any and all preparation sessions.

20. Make time to answer any questions he has when he reviews your materials.

21. When you meet with your attorney to prepare for depositions or trial, he will ask you to review materials he has gathered throughout the case. Make time to review these materials. They are important. They represent a lot of thought the attorney has made on what questions the other side will ask you. You must get comfortatble with how to answer the questions the other side will ask. If you have any questions when you are reviewing the material, call him and ask.

22. Do not answer questions that are not asked at your deposition. Don’t volunteer information.

23. More importantly, never volunteer information that you never discussed with your attorney.

24. Do not tell your attorney how he should conduct the case once the case goes to trial. You hired him because you wanted his litigation skills. Let him do his job.

25. Continue to be completely honest with him throughout the case.

26. After the case is over, thank your attorney by paying his bill as soon as he sends it to you.

The litigation lawyer is the one who will work very hard to protect your reputation, business, contractual obligations and peace of mind. Remember, when you help him, you help yourself.

You know how it is. You want to get away on your vacation. You assume the car will do just fine on the drive to the beach. So there you are v’rooming along down the highway when clunk! Clank! Surprise! Your car makes a weird noise and dies. Now, smile sweetly because you are the lead story on the national news as the car driver who shut down traffic on the interstate connecting Maine to Florida. Such a joy. This is not something you will live down soon. Expect Jay Leno or John Stewart to poke fun at you and others to blame the government for not rescuing you (and them) fast enough.

But just because you let haste and assumptions get you into this situation, don’t let haste and assumptions get you into a similar state when you are reviewing a contract for a business deal like buying/selling a business, a house, a puppy or even getting your car hauled over to the junk yard after it was hit by a semi-tractor trailer during the worlds’ biggest backup.

Here are some general rules of the road to avoid going to court over a deal gone wrong.

First rule … Think about what it is you want to do. Then write down a check list of how to do that. Not sure? Check Google. When you make your checklist, be sure to remember Reagan’s motto: “Trust but Verify.” Include on your checklist all the things that have to be done to verify your trust. Keep in mind that if it sounds good it may be really bad. This falls under the ‘no free lunch’ rule of thumb.

Second rule … Remember there is no free lunch. I am breaking this rule out so you have it right in front of you. Yes, it is that important. Do not assume. Get a professional to assist you in reviewing your legal papers.

Third rule … have your attorney’s number on your cellphone so you can reach him/her easily whenever these bumps in the road happen.

Fourth rule … ask your attorney for his opinion on what you are planning to do before you do it.

Fifth Rule: Listen to your attorney’s advice. You don’t have to take it, but listen and take it into account. Maybe you need to take extra precautions?

In other words, have fun out there but beware and have a great attorney available to help with the heavy lifting.

Yesterday, I had an experience at a local county. Great clerks there, terrific record keeping, fast service and digital records of all land deals.

Great thing, right? Well, yes and no. Let me explain.

Traditionally, land records are recorded in a book, assigned a page and record number. The resulting book and page are then printed onto the front of the order that is sent to court recording the sale. For instance, Joe Doe’s sale of his house will read, Plat Book ____, Page number ____. These numbers will appear on the side or top of the final order that is sent to court for the land records office to make the sale official by entering it into their Plat Book of Deeds.

What startled me yesterday was the look of the recorded order. No Plat Book ____, Page Number ____ was printed on the final order. Nothing in print at the top or on the side of the document. Nothing except what looked exactly like the order we sent to the county for them to record. The only difference was that above the order number was a bar code. A bar code?! Yes, a bar code. Sigh.

I could get all historical on you and say that this is a system going back to the Domesday Book in 1085 by William the Conqueror. This book recorded all the wealth of England for the French to tax and redistribute to their worthies. Here is a link to that site for more information. http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/

Interestingly enough, that exact recording came to the colonies when the English started making records of who owned what. We have a long and vigorous tradition in this country of knowing where to find a record of what we own.

I don’t know that we do have that precise ability anymore. And certainly with bar codes we have to trust that what is recorded is exactly the same as what would have been entered into a Book on a certain Page. Trust is a dicey concept these days.

After Wall Street’s traunching of mortgages, this digitization of land records strikes me as a disturbing development. See, for instance, this link on what the word ‘tranche’ means. http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Tranches. I believe that here is the reason we all heard so much about ‘slice and dice’ when pundits would talk of the bundling of mortgages and then selling slices of those bundles to Joe Doe investor.

I certainly cannot put the ditigal genie back into its bottle. I do think that those of us who have scanners would do well to put any dealings they have with mortgages and land sales onto their home computers and then store them carefully to guard against any dispute in the future about who owns what.

Throughout your representation of client x, you will need to check in with her frequently. If this is going to go to litigation, no matter wronged she feels by crumbum, make sure she understands that once the case hits that squared circle, her story of woe will be in someone elses’ hands. The Judge and Jury will decide what will happen to crumbum. Make sure she understands this. Make sure she knows what is going on with her case, when important deadlines she needs to hit are coming near, and when trial is set. As trial draws near, make sure she continues to understand that trial is a hearing of fact not a hearing on emotions.

The client must understand that litigation means a lot of discovery hearings at court. She must be made to understand that the case rests on the information she gives you. Make this clear to her that this is a working relationship. If she cannot provide the information you need to respond to objections or she changes her story at deposition, you need to know that as well.

By the time you get to trial, you should be able to know whether you can trust your client to follow your instructions. Make sure she understands that she should only answer the questions she is asked if she is called to the stand. She needs to look directly at the attorney asking the questions. She cannot vary her story from what she worked on with the attorney. Anything less puts your case at risk.

The bottom line is know your client’s strength and weaknesses. If you are the least bit unsure about her ability to be on the stand then do your best to work only with the facts of the case.

Using the right side of your brain, craft a story about what has happened to your client from her point of view. Then tell the story back to her this way to check that you understood what she told you. She will probably remember more stuff and add it in. She probably won’t wait for you to finish first. Be prepared. Have a notepad ready and write down what she says and tell her you will add it into your attorneys notes. She will feel respected, listened to and you will probably find that you have a new case.

Then talk with her using that strong analytical skill you have on the other side of your brain. Point out the weaknesses in her case, the paper work she will need to do to support you in your effort to prosecute or defend her. Tell her that her gathering documents together instead of having you do all the work will save her lots of money in the final bill. She will understand that.

After she has listened to your comments, then tell her that if she goes with your firm you will send her a note of the strategy that you just discussed with her and what she will need to do to hire you.