Litigation is stressful. We often talk to clients who are experiencing some of the most difficult times of their lives. What can you do to help minimize the stress of handling legal issues?
- Communicate with your lawyer. As lawyers, we are usually pretty busy but that will not stop us from an addressing an issue, question, or concern of our clients. You should always feel free to call or email your attorney and relax knowing that we will get back to you as soon as we are able.
- Take notes. When you are meeting with your lawyer, it makes sense to take notes, right? What about those times in the middle of the night? Or when you are working on things related to your case on the weekend? It is often helpful to dedicate a notebook to you case and jot down thoughts and questions as they come to you. Then you can share these notes with your attorney when the need arises.
- Be organized. Whether in paper or electronically, work out a system to stay organized. Place documents in file folders by topic. Put things in date order. Keep it all in one place.
- Keep everything. It is never fun to have to back track and find documents. It can also sometimes cost additional money. When you have documents, keep them until you are sure that you will not need them.
- Bring it with you. Too often clients and potential clients come to our office to meet with the attorney and do not bring necessary documentation with them. It is better to bring something and not need it than to come to a meeting and not be able to do everything because you are missing documents.
- Set limits. It can often feel like litigation takes over your life. You can set boundaries for litigation in your life by doing things such as setting aside specific time to work on your case or making certain days “litigation free” days. While it may feel like litigation is over burdensome, remind yourself to set limits.
Trust me we all struggle to do some of the things above. If you do not believe me, you should check out the front seat of my car that is usually covered in all the things that accumulate in a day! Hopefully some of these tips will enable you to stress less and feel prepared to assist the attorney in your case.