“Is the response done?”
“The response is done.”
“Does the response say yes?”
“The response does not say yes.”
“Does the response say no?”
“The response says we need more time.”
“How much more time?”
“The response asks for .”
“We asked for thirty days last month.”
“The response says the situation is complex.”
The managing director puts the phone down. The phone is black. The managing director looks at the letter. The letter has six pages. The letter came from the opposing law firm. The letter uses many words.
The words do not say anything new. The words talk about the contract. The words talk about the breach. The words talk about the damages. The managing director has read these words before.
The managing director read these words in . The managing director read these words in . Now it is .
The Anatomy of the Bill
The managing director looks at the bill. The bill is from his own lawyer. The bill shows of work. The work was for research. The work was for drafting. The work was for a meeting.
The meeting lasted . The meeting did not solve the dispute. The meeting created another meeting. The next meeting is in .
The tipping point: When legal fees approach the total value of the original loss.
The dispute is about a shipping delay. The delay happened in the port. The port was busy. The goods sat on the dock. The goods were fruit. The fruit turned brown. The fruit became waste.
The loss was forty-eight thousand dollars. The dispute has lasted . The legal fees are thirty-two thousand dollars. The fees grow every week. The fees will soon be more than the loss.
A Faulty Race
I once thought litigation was a race. I was wrong about the race. I thought the lawyers wanted to reach the finish line. I thought the finish line was the settlement. I thought the fastest lawyer was the best lawyer.
I was wrong. I was wrong because I did not understand the revenue. I did not understand how a law firm stays open. I did not understand the quiet reason to keep a dispute alive.
Wei W.J. is a carnival ride inspector. I met Wei W.J. in a diner. The diner was small. Wei W.J. looked at the ceiling. Wei W.J. counted the ceiling tiles. There were forty-four tiles.
“The owner likes the repair bill. The owner uses the repair bill for the taxes. The mechanic likes the repair bill. The mechanic gets paid to visit the Tilt-A-Whirl. The Tilt-A-Whirl stays broken.”
– Wei W.J., Ride Inspector
The children cannot ride the Tilt-A-Whirl. The children do not matter to the owner. The children do not matter to the mechanic. The bill is what matters.
The commercial dispute is like the Tilt-A-Whirl. The dispute is broken. The advisor is the mechanic. The advisor looks at the dispute. The advisor finds a small problem. The advisor writes a letter about the problem.
The opposing advisor reads the letter. The opposing advisor finds a different problem. The opposing advisor writes a reply. Both advisors bill for the time. Both advisors make money. The dispute stays broken.
The Recurring Revenue Line
The managing director picks up the pen. The pen is silver. The managing director writes a note. The note says “Why?” The managing director wants to know why the dispute does not end.
The managing director knows the answer. The answer is the fee. The fee is a recurring revenue line. The law firm likes recurring revenue. The law firm has a building. The building has a mortgage. The law firm has staff. The staff need a salary.
The dispute pays for the mortgage. The dispute pays for the salary. I used to think that every lawyer wanted a quick win. I was wrong. A quick win is a short bill.
This is a hard truth. It is a truth people do not like to say. But the truth is there. It sits in the room like a heavy desk.
The Choreography of Precision
The choreography of the dispute is precise. First comes the summons. Then comes the motion to dismiss. The motion to dismiss usually fails. The lawyers know the motion will fail. They write the motion anyway. They bill for the motion.
Then comes discovery. Discovery is a long process. Discovery involves many documents. The lawyers look at the documents. The lawyers bill for the looking. Then come the depositions. A deposition takes all day. A deposition requires a transcript. The transcript costs money. The lawyers bill for the day.
The Exhaustion Plan
The managing director looks at the calendar. The calendar is on the wall. The calendar shows . The trial is set for . But the trial will not happen in May.
The lawyers will ask for a continuance. They will say they need more time. They will say the expert witness is not ready. They will say the documents are too many. The court will grant the continuance. The trial will move to . The billing will continue.
This cycle creates a loss of faith. The client loses faith in the law. The client loses faith in the advisor. The client feels tired. The exhaustion is part of the plan. When the client is tired, the client will settle.
The client will settle for less money. The client just wants the dispute to stop. The settlement is not about justice. The settlement is about the end of the billing. This is a sad way to solve a problem.
The Matter of Alignment
The managing director needs a different advisor. The managing director needs an advisor who wants closure. This is a matter of alignment. The advisor must want what the client wants.
In some places, this heritage is old. In Colombo, firms have existed for over a century. A firm like
has been around since . They have seen many disputes. They know that a reputation for resolution is better than a reputation for billing.
A firm with four generations of history does not need to trick the client. The firm has seen the long view. The long view says that a happy client returns. A happy client brings new business. A client who feels cheated by a long bill does not return.
The Advantage Fallacy
The managing director calls his lawyer again. “I want to settle,” the managing director says. “It is too early to settle,” the lawyer says. “We have the advantage.”
“What is the advantage?”
“We have the clause. We have the expert report. We have the momentum.”
“I do not feel momentum,” the managing director says. “I feel a bill. I feel the weight of the bill.” “The bill is the cost of the momentum,” the lawyer says.
The lawyer is wrong. The bill is the cost of the delay. The managing director looks at the six-page letter. He sees the adjectives. He sees the words like “unprecedented” and “egregious.” These adjectives do not help the fruit.
The fruit is still brown. The fruit is still waste. The law firm is the only one making money from the brown fruit.
The Roller Coaster Metaphor: Wei W.J. told me about a squeaky wheel. The mechanic could have oiled it for ten cents. Instead, he convinced the owner the whole car was dangerous. He sold the owner a new car, oiled the old wheel, and sold the old car to another carnival.
I was wrong to think that expertise is always used for the client. A good lawyer looks at the six-page letter and finds the one sentence that matters. They do not write a seven-page reply. They pick up the phone. They find the settlement.
Closing the Gaps
The dispute should have ended in . It is now . The managing director has spent thirty-two thousand dollars to talk about forty-eight thousand dollars. This is a math problem. The math says the dispute is a failure.
The managing director stands up. He walks to the window. He looks at the street. He sees the cars. The cars are moving. The cars are going to their destinations. His dispute does not have a goal. His dispute is a circle.
He decides to change the advisor. He wants a firm that understands the cost of time. He wants a firm that values the end of the fight. The managing director picks up the six-page letter. He tears the letter in half. He tears the letter again.
The paper is thick. It is expensive paper. The pieces fall into the bin. The bin is grey. The dispute is not over yet. But the choreography has changed. The managing director is done with the dance.
He thinks about the carnival. He thinks about Wei W.J. counting the tiles. Wei W.J. was not looking for beauty. Wei W.J. was looking for the gaps. The gaps are where the money falls through. A good advisor closes the gaps. A good advisor stops the counting of the tiles.
The managing director leaves the office. The office is quiet. The bill stays on the desk. The bill is the last one he will pay for this choreography. He walks out into the air. The air is cool. The air is free. The dispute will end because he has decided it will end. He only needs a firm that agrees.