The Lawyer's Lawyer

Q. Using ransomware, hackers recently locked our firm's data and demanded bitcoins to release it. It cost us around $10,000 to get our data back. But if our clients find out, we'll lose a lot more. Must we tell them?

Q. I know it's hearsay, but a week after the accident, police interviewed a bystander who corroborated my client's account and blamed the other driver. If I can't find the witness, may I call the officer to repeat this statement?

Q. My client from Athens doesn't speak English. I don't speak Greek. But her son speaks both languages and, until recently, served as my "liaison." Now, they're no longer on speaking terms, and I feel "lost in translation." What should I do now?

​​Q. Unable to pay a significant retainer in a divorce case, a client asked if I could help him "behind the scenes" and ghostwrite certain pleadings without entering an appearance. Is that allowed?

​​Q. Every week, consumers and business owners call me with cases that aren't large enough to justify my fees. I hate turning them away. But what's the alternative?

​​Q. After 40 years as a general practitioner, I'm tired of going to court. So I'd like to sell my litigation cases and scale back to transactional work only. How can I sell out?

​​Q. Following an audit in which we acknowledged $48,000 in excess tax liability, the IRS provided a report which miscalculated my client's income and proposed an adjustment of only $13,000. Must I call this error to the auditor's attention?

​​Q. Disabled after her accident, my client can't pay her mortgage, her medical bills, or even her utility bill. Desperate to survive, she wants to settle her case for a fraction of its value. May I advance her living expenses until after we resolve the case?​

​​Q. My injured client just tweeted photos of his hiking the Appalachian Trail. To prevent the defense from finding them, may we delete the tweet?

​​Q. After lengthy litigation, we recently collected a large outstanding bill from a client who filed a frivolous counterclaim against us for malpractice. To prevent this from happening again, may we require binding arbitration in future retainer agreements?

Q. Denying that she sped up to beat a red light, my injured client swore that she had lots of time to get to work at 8:00 a.m. Told that the police timed the crash at 8:32 a.m., she then changed her start time to 9. May I fire her for lying?

Q. I settled a weak case for $30,000, and got my client's medical bills reduced to $15,000. But my client is angry that he's "netting a measly $5,000," won't let me pay his doctors, and objects to my one-third fee. What should I do?

Q. Injured on a Delaware highway, my old client spent the night in a Dover hospital, returned to Maryland for more treatment, and called me for representation. I'm not licensed in Delaware. May I take her case?