One of the beauty of being in practice is the different people you will meet. You will be amazed, how dumb and helpless a person will become when he/she is desperate.
I had this client, S. S has my mobile phone number. Yeah, thanks to my clerk who don’t really understand my “Don’t give my phone number to the client” policy. S’s wife had just passed away so he wanted us to extract a Probate Certificate from the Court. It’s a simple lar…real simple one. All i need to do is make sure that all the Cause papers are in order and i would be able to get the Grant of Probate. The day before the hearing, S wanted to know what would happen during the trial. So i brief him…
“Mr. S very simple only. I will tell the Registrar that all our papers are in order and we will get the Grant of Probate.”
Sound simple right. IT’S DAMN SIMPLE LAR! GOD DAMN IT! Apparently, S was still very worry. He was worried that i could not wake up for the hearing. He sms-ed me at 7pm.
“Frank, Remember my Probate hearing tommorow morninig. Thanks”
He was worried that i didn’t leave my house early and hence stuck in the jam. He sms-ed me at 8am
“Frank, are you in Shah Alam Court yet?”
8am lar! The hearing don’t start until 9am.
Fine enough. I appreciate his kind reminders. As usual, i arrived and parked my car in Shah Alam Court at 8.30am. He said that he would be there around that time as well. I waited and waited…no sign of Mr. S and his two Petitioners.
At 9.30am, i called him…
“Mr.S, where are you?”
“I am stuck in the jam lar?.”
So much for all the reminders to me, Mr. S?
Finally he came at 9:45am and we got the Probate.
Then after, the nightmare starts…he would sms me every two or three days to ask me to extract the Certificate from the Court. Comon man, i am only human and the Court don’t work for him. I tried my best.
Later on, i changed my number. Mr. S could no longer sms me anymore. Instead he CALL my office…
“Why everytime i call you, you always tell me that you are chasing the Court for my Cert but no News one?”
“I am really chasing them hard.”
“Yeah but not good enough. You kept telling me the same thing everytime i call you.”
Bugger that is the truth, wah. What do you want?
Then he went on to give me stupid one liner…
” Serionsly Frank. If i am a rapist, i would like my case to be delayed as long as the year of 2020. But I AM NOT.”
Sorry Mr.S, i didn’t graduate from Hogwart, School of Wizardary and Witchcraft. I cannot jinx the Court staff when they refuse to work fast.
Lolz. Poor thing….well…customers/clients are always right, I guess…Good luck!
valz: not in the legal practice 😀
I think you just need to make it _very_clear_ to the client that the delay lies in the Court, not you. Maybe a time estimate may help?
Setting and managing client expectations is an important part to make them easy to deal with 🙂
eHehEHeh~ so sorry, i empathise with you, frank, but probate clients are the most demanding of all. and no, they will never understand that (a) you have other files to do & other clients; and (b) yes, you are following up with the court; but (c) the court won’t work fast enough; unless (d) you want to pay under table money? because (e) we are not ‘clients’ of the court, but at their mercy.
” Serionsly Frank. If i am a rapist, i would like my case to be delayed as long as the year of 2020. But I AM NOT.”
ROFLMAO!
Real joker this fellar. Tell him:
“Dear Mr S., you must know in Malaysia, rapist, killer or someone who deferred in his tax payments, all also at the mercy of Malaysian inefficiency. So i suggest you go worry about your bereavement, and let me do my job”.
PS: What is grant of probate? Probation ?
hmm… why the 2 lawyers dowan to explain? i was going to explain, but thought i’ll just =X and listen… *hehe*
VaLz: yes, but we must stop them from doing stupid thing oso…i will tell you why in my next story.
miketee: I did but the court staffs are working in super slow motion…unless u “buy them coffee”. My firm don’t wanna do that.
yvonne: Ya, most banking Lit firm do that.
wolfx@work: Grant of probate is a document you get to administer a deceased person’s property.
yvonne: You are more senior than us mah….
hehe. i know for a moment u wanted to say i older rite? ;P
wolfx@work: when a person passes away and names someone in his will to deal with his property [e.g. transfer to his mistresses or relatives, or donate to charity], before he does all that, he has to file an application in to court to have that will “registered”, and the grant of probate is a certificate from court that “registers” him as the authorised person to deal with the dead person’s property.
erm. see? even i don’t make sense. anyway, that’s layman’s terms la.
yvonne: I didn’t say so lar..dun perasan. tehehehehe
Classic! Haha…. I’m getting tonnes of those people in Legal Aid every single day! I’m so used to it now I don’t even bother seeing them or picking up their calls!
Selina: Legal aid? Selina is a fellow chambee ar?
Such an irony sometimes to think that I am doing law. I had so many bad experience with lawyers charging us super high fees and make us wait forever when we don’t have to.No doubt there are lots of iritating clients, but lawyers can take advantage of their clients too sometimes. Bottem line, it’s just our crazy screwed up system. *grrr*
julz: wait till u practice, then u’ll know all these things happen.
julz: ya…wait till u do your chambering then u’ll have first hand experience.
Nolah! Not yet chambering. Just that Final Yr Law students can choose to do their practicals with Legal Aid if they like to 😛
Selina: oooh, u r from UM?
Frank: Monash Uni! LOL?
sel: oooh u…hahahahha