What you WANT to hear vs. what you NEED to hear.

I regularly see clients who come into my office with a pre-determined notion of what they want and how they need to get there.  They have either talked to friends or family about their situation and they come to me simply to see if I can help them accomplish their pre-determined solution.    They are looking for a paper pusher, not an attorney.
Fortunately for my clients, I am not a paper pusher.  I do not seek to take on every client that walks in my door and I do not seek to tell my clients what they want to hear simply so they will hire me.  I do a formal intake where we look at every issue and every possible solution.  We discuss the benefits of each.  In some cases the client is right and the solution they came to me to discuss is the right solution.  In other circumstances the solution the client seeks is either not possible, or simply not the best option for that particular client.
Earlier today I had an individual call me.  He wanted some advice.  Apparently I met with this individual approximately 3 years ago and I indicated to him that saving his home was not going to be in his best interest.  Due to the totality of his circumstances a Chapter 13 bankruptcy would be to expensive and very unlikely to succeed.  I suggest walking away from the home, filing a Chapter 7 and getting a fresh start on his financial future.  This was the advise that he needed to hear.
Unfortunately, after leaving my office this individual went to another bankruptcy attorney to seek a second opinion.  The other attorney told this individual exactly what he wanted to hear.  Of course they could save the home.  Of course a Chapter 13 was feasible.  Of course everything the clients friends and family had told him was true.  This individual was seeking this attorney’s aid and counsel and instead he received a sales pitch for the services the attorney wanted to provide instead of a realistic evaluation of the client’s circumstances.
Now the individual is three years into his plan and the case is a mess.  He cannot afford to continue and he told me on the phone that all of my predictions are coming true.  He now wants to come into my office to figure out the best way to move forward.  He wants to convert his case to a Chapter 7.  That may or may not be the best option.  We will see when he gets here.  Once again I am going to evaluate his case to determine what he needs to hear, not what you wants to hear.   When you seek an attorney, make sure that you are not sold a product simply because it is what you told the attorney you wanted.  Make sure you are given advice based on what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.  Make sure the attorney does his job.