The Best Advice a Lawyer Can Give

It has been said that sometimes the best advice a lawyer can give a client is to stop being a damned fool.  Clients sometimes become so attached to what they view as a meritorious argument that they are unwilling to acknowledge a lost cause.  Such is the case with Beverly Stayart, a self-described "sophisticated, well-educated, and highly intelligent professional woman," who refused to give up a quixotic battle against Yahoo for generating what she views as shameful search results.

When she wasn't drafting bizarre poetry demonizing Canada, Ms. Stayart apparently became curious about what Yahoo's search results would reveal about her.  To her consternation, the search results directed her to pornographic websites and certain pharmaceutical products.  So she did what every self-righteous person does -- she sued Yahoo.  She subsequently--and predictably--lost at both the trial court and court of appeals.

What should an attorney do in such an instance?  Assuming that the lawsuit is not so frivolous that the attorney risks being sanctioned, should the attorney gladly take the client's money and proceed with the lawsuit regardless of the merits?  I think that is exactly the wrong attitude for a lawyer to have and ultimately a disservice to the client.  As a professional, the attorney owes a duty to persuade the client that she is being a damned fool to proceed with litigation.  Of course, once a client becomes invested in the principal of a matter, this is no easy task.  Sometimes the hardest person to convince about the merits of a case is not the judge or jury, but the client.  But as attorneys we sometimes are obliged to give clients "tough love" and help them avoid embarking on legal adventures that will only serve to lighten their pocketbook and not otherwise advance their interests.