How to Take Charge and Get Results

by Nicholas Carroll

Now in 6th printing

Dancing with Lawyers-link to articles and information Quick Tips Legal Articles: "starter know-how" on common legal questions.

Clients want to believe their lawyer is "representing my best interests."

But a lawyer is not your White Knight. A lawyer is in business to make money. Somebody has to pay for the Mercedes, and if you don't know what you're doing, it could be you. If you are in a lawsuit, or a divorce, the plaintiff or your ex-spouse could also end up with a lot more of your money than you imagined. If you are in business, lawyers can drain millions of dollars from your bottom line.

"Witty and irreverent . . . it offers simple ways for individuals and companies to supervise lawyers." - The Globe and Mail, EDITORS' CHOICE

"A must-read for anyone hiring a lawyer." -- The Toronto Star

"With insight and wonderful cynicism, Carroll shows how to get the lawyer and the results you want." --The Ottawa Citizen

"Carroll dissipates the myths." -- The Calgary Herald

"A readable, relevant guide to purchasing legal advice." -- The Regina Leader-Post

"Non-fiction books should inform. When they entertain it's a plus, and when they delight it's truly a bonus. This one does it all in spades.... If you already have a lawyer you need this book, and it may be the best twenty bucks you spend this year." - The Victoria Times Colonist

Carroll probably knows as much as anybody about lawyers." - The New York Times

"Dancing with Lawyers shows the client how to lead without the lawyer stepping on their toes." -- The Houston Post

"Dancing with Lawyers is a must for any reference shelf." -- The Atlanta Journal & Constitution

"It takes apart the legal profession with surgical -- and often hilarious -- precision. . . . More important, it provides hugely valuable insights into managing the relationship in a cost- and business-effective way." -- Ralph Warner, lawyer and author of Fed Up With the Legal System

"An absolute must for anyone hiring a lawyer. . . . Dancing with Lawyers is the best book written on dealing with lawyers." -- Today's Business Journal, New York City

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" I received many of my beginnings from Canada and Canadian schooling, living for several years in Quebec City. Lessons such as good manners, proper enunciation, and that manners notwithstanding, there are times when one has to use the hockey stick above the belt. The first encounter I recall with the legal system was along Dufferin Terrace, where my brother and I collected numerous pretty brochures from auto windshields,
unaware that they were coupled with parking tickets. Apprehended by the RCMP, we pleaded diplomatic immunity, and the crisis was averted before it ever reached Ottawa". [Nicholas Carroll, February 21, 2005].

Maryland small-businessman Nicholas Carroll came home one night after signing a check for $4,000 worth of legal work and realized that his lawyers had caught a fatal contract mistake only ten minutes before he signed the papers for a real estate purchase.

He sat down to write a list of reminders for keeping his lawyers on track, and when he was finished at 3 a.m., he had a solid set of rules for buying legal services like he would buy furniture or garden tools -- with minimum annoyance and tangible results.

That list became the landmark book Dancing With Lawyers. In it, Carroll describes simple ways businesses and individuals can supervise lawyers the way they would supervise any subcontractor.

"We're seeing a third wave in public attitudes," said Carroll in a recent interview. "There was lawyer-respect, then lawyer-bashing -- now the public is realizing that most lawyers are just good talkers with bad judgment." He noted that "Customers are also realizing that they can do much of the work themselves. The law is not so mysterious; once you get past the jargon, it's mostly bureaucracy as usual."

In the age of litigation, more people than ever are dealing with lawyers -- for wills, incorporations and divorces, for adoptions, real estate deals, and tax cases -- and they're becoming more sophisticated about the law, Carroll said. "In some municipal courts you will find nearly as many customers arguing cases as you will find lawyers. The do-it-yourself customer may have been a fool in Clarence Darrow's day, but I don't suppose Clarence charged $150 an hour."

Carroll tells the story of a friend who runs a biotechnology company. His lawyer told him the company would have to pay $2,000 in taxes to the county where they had just opened a branch. He called the county, and they faxed him the ordinances. When he couldn't find any reason to pay $2,000, he called the county again, and they said they didn't know any reason either. As his friend said later, "With the time I lost, it really wasn't worth it, but some days you just get fed up."

When Carroll got fed up and wrote his list of reminders, he had been through a string of lawyers who he said were too steeped in legal thinking to see common sense solutions. Unlike most customers, Carroll had earlier met a lawyer who, he says, "carries her customers the extra miles" -- and knowing how to recognize a good lawyer, he has been holding other lawyers to her standard ever since.

Carroll, who has been a business owner, project manager, real estate investor, and overseas manager of an import firm, wrote Dancing With Lawyers with small business in mind, but the book includes information on corporate lawyers as well.

Dancing with Lawyers includes sections on how lawyers become what they are; how to find the right lawyer for the job; and how a customer -- not client -- can help jobs along while avoiding costly, time-consuming litigation.

Carroll spoke to dozens of lawyers while he was writing the book. "Reactions to the manuscript fell into a pattern," he said, "new lawyers were furious, experienced lawyers made no comment, and former lawyers thought it was a riot."

Nicholas CarroII has appeared in print hundreds of times, both as a source and as a freelance writer. He is a veteran of countless radio and TV interviews, including WABC, WOR, WGN, KGO, KABC, and CNBC, as well as Canadian CBC and CTV. His interviews are popular in virtually all markets.