{"id":4031,"date":"2005-01-05T11:56:53","date_gmt":"2005-01-05T15:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/01\/05\/a-canadian-role-model\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:58:04","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:58:04","slug":"a-canadian-role-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/01\/05\/a-canadian-role-model\/","title":{"rendered":"a Canadian role model"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

from the dEsq of ethicalEsq<\/em><\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Clicking around on our Referer Page<\/span> yesterday, it was quite satisfying to discover that a<\/span> Google Search for lawyer contingency fees <\/span> yielded the ethicalEsq <\/em>archive on <\/span>Fees<\/span><\/a><\/span> as its #1 result. More exciting, however, was noting that the #2 result was a law firm<\/em> that <\/span><\/span> apparently told its clients they should negotiate<\/em> with their lawyer over contingency fee<\/span><\/span> levels. My euphoria was only diminished a little when I learned that the firm, <\/span>Polten & Hodder<\/span><\/a>, <\/span><\/span> was located in Toronto– but it spiked back up again when I saw the content of the website.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"podium When lawyers get <\/span>together<\/span><\/a> to discuss how to improve lawyer marketing, branding, images. etc. I hope they will learn some lessons from the attitude and substance of the materials found at the P&H website. When the visitor clicks on the English-language <\/span>homepage<\/span><\/a>, he or she is greeted by these passages from <\/span>The Lawyer’s Calling<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/a>, by Joseph G. Allegretti<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Paulist Press, New York, 1996):<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

“How much easier it is for a lawyer to conceive of his client not as an
\nadult, but more like a child, or a “case” to be tried or settled. How much
\neasier it is to take command, tell the client you’ll handle everything, and
\nthen get on with your work without having to expend time and energy
\nnurturing a relationship between equals.”<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>“There can be no covenant between a lawyer and his client unless and
\nuntil the lawyer is willing to encounter his client as an equal who has
\nsomething of value to contribute to the relation. … The indispensable
\nfirst step in forging a covenant between a lawyer and a client is the
\nwillingness of both parties to entrust themselves to the other.” <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond such generalities, you can find links to more materials which show that P&H takes the philosophy into its practice of law. It’s <\/span>contingency fee FAQ page<\/span><\/a> is a prime example — containing information and advice impossible to find on the pages of American tort\/p-i lawyers, including:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n