Stories

Fort Worth and the surrounding DFW area has a surplus of attorneys across all specialities. I often get asked what makes me different than all the other attorneys in Fort Worth and what I would say is I respect the fact that it’s their money, and I don’t want to spend their money for them.

I always want to make sure that they understand that the decision to hire me is a business decision and it’s one that they have to be comfortable with. I want them to be involved it to the effect that we can go as hard as they want us to go or if they just want to stand back and not be the ones directing the show, we can do that, too.

It’s a decision they have to make. When I say go as hard as they want us to do, is this something that they actually want to go forward with and go to trial with? If that’s something that they want to do, then I try to tell them upfront “You guys need to be prepared to spend X.” And if it’s something they’re not comfortable with, then let’s try to get a plan together where we can maybe reach a resolution a little quicker.

The last thing I want to happen is for us to get into a situation and then they realize “Oh my gosh. This is way more expensive than we anticipated. We just wanted a quick resolution to this thing, and we’re a week away from trial. This is not where we wanted to be.”

So, what makes me different from many other attorneys around here is I am upfront in where we’re going and I want to make sure we’re always on the same page.

 

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We are excited to announce that Rob Henry has been named a Fort Worth Magazine Top Personal Injury Attorney for 2017.

A few words from Rob:

I am humbled and excited to receive recognition as a “Top Attorney” in Fort Worth for Personal Injury Plaintiff category from Fort Worth Magazine.

Each year, lawyers in the Fort Worth-Dallas region vote for lawyers in their field of practice to be included on the Top Attorney list. A panel of lawyers, themselves Top Attorneys, reviewed the nominations and made the final decisions.

Thank you to all of my colleagues that voted for me this year.

Like all relationships, sometimes the attorneys and their clients go through rough patches.  If things aren’t going well with your attorney here are some thoughts from Fort Worth attorney, Rob Henry, on how to get things back on track and raise issues without feeling like you are bugging your lawyer.

One of the complaints that you’ll hear quite a bit is just the cadence of communication, making sure that people are getting back to clients and that they are getting updates on the case. The best way to handle this issue is to have a frank conversation with your attorney and set clear expectations for how often those communications will take place and then to bring up any issues that the client might be feeling when it comes to the current client relationship and dealing with the case.

I was in a similar situation about a year ago. Everything ended up alright, but it was a bunch of miscommunications, and I was guilty of it, too. My client just asked to come in, we sat down and we talked, and evidently there were a couple of times where she thought… Like I said, it was miscommunication, but she wasn’t clear on where the case was going.

I didn’t even realize she wasn’t clear on the status of the case, because the case was going on fine and we were on track… but she had wanted me to check in with her more. I explained to her that I was really sorry about that. I told her about where we were going, gave her a couple of red-line dates to let her know “Moving forward, I’ll definitely check in by this date and let you know.”

We made some agreements on what dates to check in, and it wasn’t necessarily every week or every month. I told her “You can always call me and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, but you just have to trust me and let me do the job.”

The meeting went well, and really, I learned a lot from it. I realized I need to be more upfront with my clients about “You’re probably not going to hear from me every week or month sometimes (if it’s a long case), but I’m going to keep you in the loop. And if you’re worried about something or you need to check in with me, you can always call me and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

Sometimes clients feel like the problem is going to get solved very quickly, and it’s often is not going to be wrapped up like that. I understand why it’s difficult for them, because it’s such a traumatic thing they went through. What I always try to stress is that the main thing you can do right now is just try to get back to normal, move on with your life, and let me handle it.

As you can see a lot of attorney-client issues arise from a perceived lack of communication or miscommunication. If you keep an open dialogue with your attorney and set clear expectations from the onset of the case you can avoids some of these pitfalls.

When looking for an attorney many people wonder how they can decide which one is right for them and their specific case. If you’re interviewing a lot of different attorneys, what are the signs that you can look for to help you pick the best attorney you?

I always suggest asking yourself the following questions:

1. How do you relate to them?
2. How do they make you feel?
3. Is this somebody you trust dealing with?
4. Is it somebody you can open up to?
5. Is this someone you want to spend a significant amount of time with?

When you are hiring an attorney – and a lot of people don’t understand this – your problem is probably not going to get solved overnight. There is a good chance it’s probably not even going to get solved in the next week or month. You’re in this for the long run. This person is likely going to be a major part of your life for probably at least the next year or so.

You’ll also need to understand that this is going to be a serious relationship. So, when I say you need to be comfortable with them, one of the big parts there is you need to be comfortable in that you trust that person to do his job, because you’re not going to be able to communicate with them every day. I always try to get back to my client when they call me the same day, but sometimes you just can’t, and sometimes it’ll be a few days before an attorney is able to get back to you.

You have to be comfortable with them in that regard and you need to feel comfortable that they’re able to do their job. It’s not going to be a true partnership in the sense that you’re checking in with them every day. You have to go on with your life and you have to go on with your business and you have to give this really serious situation, really important situation to this person you’ve met a few times and let them go with it and let them deal with it for you.

This is a part in our series of Q&A’a with Rob Henry, an Fort Worth attorney.

Rob On Results

Are results guaranteed?

Absolutely not, no. I always try to tell people I can’t guarantee what I want to get done with regards to their case but I am going to do my best. That’s what you have to understand. It’s the client’s call. I can just tell you what I do and how I want to go about doing it.

You can never, never guarantee the results. And to be honest with you, if there’s a lawyer who’s going to guarantee results to you, I think he’s lying, and I’ll just be upfront with that. You want somebody who can guarantee they’re going to work hard for you and do what they can, but when it comes to results, you just can’t guarantee that. I don’t do that, and that’s not fair on the client to put those kinds of expectations on them.

So, what can you guarantee?

You can guarantee that you’re going to work hard for them. You can guarantee that you’re always going to be upfront with them about what’s going on and what the situation is. You can guarantee stuff like that, but the bottom line is you never know how things are going to play out in a courtroom, you never know how things are going to play out with the jury.

Jury selection is so random, particularly in Tarrant County. Tarrant County is a lot bigger county than I think people realize, and you really never know what you’re going to get. Whether it’s a district court where you’re talking about 12 random people or it’s a county court with six random people, you just never know how those personalities are going to co-mingle.

You always guarantee that you’re going to work hard and do your best for them, and I absolutely 100% do that. I am always going to be upfront with you. The toughest thing in this business is having to tell somebody something that they don’t want to hear, but if that’s the truth and that’s what the current situation is, I am going to do that.

You mentioned jury selection. When you’re faced with going to trial and looking at a jury, you can’t control who’s put in front of you. What is it that you do when you’re kind of fighting through that process?

It depends on the case. In a business breach of contract-type case, what you’re looking for is people who own their own business and can relate to the situation that’s going on. That’s the main thing you’re looking for there.

In a personal injury case, you want more people who have been out in the real world and they experience stuff and can relate to people who are going through a tough situation and who understand that somebody who’s been seriously injured needs the help. Those are the type of people you’re looking for in that case.

It’s real diverse, and lots of times, you don’t know what you’re getting. It all depends on the case, and you have to fight through the stereotypes and you can’t judge people on that. That’s one thing you always have to be very careful about.

Jury selection is the toughest part and the most important part of a lawsuit. A lot of times, it’ll always just come down to the jury. You can have the best lawyer arguing one side, but if the jury doesn’t like them, they’re going to rule the other way.

There are many factors that play into the outcome of any case and each case in unique. My guarantee is to be honest and upfront with each of my clients about their case and the legal process and to work my hardest for them.