THE STANKOWSKI REPORT #26: MY ENCOUNTER WITH A COUNTRY LAWYER

by Stan Stankowski

Over the holidays--yes, I got to take a little time off (well, there were certainly days with reduced hours and after a while, that feels like a vacation)--I ran into a different sort of bird. A country lawyer. This is not the first time that I have encountered such a creature, but they tend to fascinate me every time.

First, allow me to clarify. I do not think that I am talking about the guy who we all run into in state court every once in a while, i.e., that rambling lunatic who does little more than feel up the court reporter with his beady eyes, sweat and start every argument with “Weelll, that may be how they do it in X, but [down, up, over] here we ['act like gentlemen,' 'still have respect for the judicial process,' 'know how to treat a lady,' or, (my personal favorite) 'trust the jury to come to a fair and honest decision.']"  (If you get that last one, and you lost summary judgment, well….)  Or maybe I am. The particular specimen I am referring to today I have only encountered in social and non-adversarial situations.

This particular encounter began as all such encounters do, inauspiciously. I am at a party three states from where I practice in a somewhat rural town.  I am there, feeling rather congenial. Someone I have never met approaches and introduces herself. We exchange the normal pleasantries. Eventually the topic of occupations is brought up and it becomes clear I am a lawyer from some city. Then the magic words. “Oh, so’s my [husband, cousin, brother-in-law]. He’s right over there. He practices in town. Hold on I will go get him.”

And so she does. He ambles over and he fits the mold. In this case and most others, he is a bit rotund, probably with gray hair. Most strikingly, he is friendly as hell. “Stan! Good to meet you! Did you see that illegal roadblock on the way in? I already jumped Tom’s case about that!” 

Tom, as I come to find out, is the county sheriff, who is lounging on the other side of the room. The conversation progresses. It is not all about work, but that certainly comes into it. He does some criminal work. Occasionally, he will write a will or a trust. Several local businesses use him as general or trial counsel. He tries to stay away from domestic work because he doesn’t like it all that much, but sometimes you do what a long time client and friend needs. Every couple of years, the county or city will do a bond issue and he handles that for the most part.

He also coaches some little league team and goes shooting in Brazil once a year. His wife likes Norway (who the hell likes Norway?) and they go once a year. This guy is not a yokel, at least outside of court. He knows quite a bit about current political topics, he has an opinion, and apparently has time to get involved. He works hard, but he tries to keep it around 40 hours a week.

While talking to him, it becomes apparent that everyone knows him. They walk by and say hello, he greets them in turn. Several people ask his opinion on one thing or another and he is glad to provide it. The person who asked seems genuinely interested in what the he has to say. He was on the city council but gave that up because it became a conflict.

I eventually excuse myself, but I continue to watch him throughout the evening. The mayor says hello and they talk for a while. The same thing occurs with the principal, the football coach, the two doctors and the banker. His kids are around, and they are tired, but they know their Dad and they like him. So does his wife. He eventually leaves with a hearty goodbye and that is a shame.

It is an interesting contrast to the city lawyer’s party, and God knows I went to a few of those. Admittedly, I don’t know how typical the country lawyer is, but I will say I have met more than one, and they pretty much fit the mold or they aren’t practicing in the country anymore.

Oddly, I never tried to guess how much money the guy made. I never even thought about it. I still don’t really care.

About the Author: Stan Stankowski is the pseudonym of a first-year associate working in a litigation firm somewhere in the South. For more details, read his introductory post, as well as Evan Schaeffer's introduction. The collected Stankowski Reports are here.

Comments

[Chris Laurel]

Interesting story. I lived in Georgia and Texas and knew these guys and gals before I started law school in New York City.

I think a major problem we face right now, as a community, is how we educate aspiring attorneys. I am preparing a letter to the dean of my law school and the American Bar Association. It is the first entry on my blog:

http://accuracyblog.blogspot.com

[ambimb]

Fascinating. You wouldn't happen to have contact info for this country lawyer, would you? I would love to talk w/someone like this to learn more about his career trajectory. How did he get to the apparently successful, relatively relaxed and happy place he seems to be in today? And how does someone manage a jack-of-all-trades law practice like that? Sounds to me like a pretty good way to go.

[Matt]

Well, being a lawyer in a small town myself, and having several good friends who have those practices, let me tell you that like everything it's a double edged sword. Town I work in has 3000 people, county 19,000.

You'll do domestic relations work to start out because it pays the bills, but you quickly want out because you run into those people whose kids you took away in Wal-Mart and such. You'll never hit it too big as you'll not do much personal injury because 1) you don't keep the staff because you don't want the overhead, 2) you don't advertise much, 3) because people think that the big money cases take big city lawyers. However, what constitutes a lot of money in a town that size is a lot different from what constitutes a lot of money in a city, so you'll certainly be comfortable.

Of course, even collecting on your other cases can be hard, because the people don't have much money, or it's a friend, or a family member, or a friend of a friend, and you'll sometimes feel bad about pushing for collections. But if you're smart, you'll pick up a part time job - city attorney, municipal judge, for some easy income and more importantly the health care coverage. Your real money will come in knowing the bankers, realtors, etc. - they will send real estate deals your way, or let you know when stuff can picked up cheap because a person is about to go under or really needs out from under property.

As far as the jack-of-all-trades thing goes, it doesn't bother you much until you talk to a specialist. Then you spend the next week or so stressed thinking of all the cases you've handled with similar implications to the one he/she was talking about and how you had no clue X, Y, or Z was important.

As for regrets, you'll have them, they are just the inverse of the city attorneys. You could make more money in the city, you would be anonymous, there would be more to do outside of work, etc. Everything is a tradeoff, but you better like small town life. Or get yourself a condo in a city to escape to.