Not the brightest bulb

Have you ever come across a person who thought they knew everything about everything but what they don't know is that they don't know anything about anything but have the confidence of someone who does know what they're talking about?

As it turns out, there is a condition called the Dunning-Kruger Effect that covers this concept.  Essentially, The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities.  Basically, they don't know what they don't know but hold out that they know everything about everything.

You've seen these people.  Uncle Bob gets wasted at Thanksgiving and starts to pontificate about thing political like he's a well-versed pundit.   Neighbor Alice drones on about how to properly grow flowers despite the fact that she has a brown thumb (i.e. kills everything).

 

Still unclear?  Some other examples might help identify these types of people, for example:

• A new employee who has only a basic understanding of a task might believe they are an expert and refuse feedback or further training, leading to mistakes and poor performance aaaaand, subsequently, gets fired.
• A manager (hired as a manager because of their relationship to a family member) who lacks experience in what a company/employees actually do makes poor decisions due to overconfidence impacting team morale and productivity.
• A person who’s watched a few episodes of a cooking show decides to host a 10-person dinner party with a five-course French menu winds up making hamburgers and soggy "french" fries.
• A non-technical startup founder insists on coding the company's website using only YouTube tutorials resulting in a site that is buggy, slow, and not secure.
• A new driver right out of high school who has only driven a car in a video game overestimate their actual driving skills and take unnecessary risks.
• A new law school graduate opens a solo practice and takes on a complex case, believing it’s “just filling out forms.”

It is to this last one that our story proceeds.  Years back, I had an buddy who had a wife who had money to burn.  Acquaintance (who had just graduated from law school) convinced wife to help him open a law office complete with flashy new furniture and an impressive library (think small Library of Congress).

Nary three (3) months into his law "practice" and without any law experience, Buddy calls me (who had, at that time, about a year of legal experience under my belt) asking for help.  Seems Buddy had taken on an appeal, taken a retainer, and promised client 100% success.   

Apparently, Buddy had convinced client that by virtue of his graduating from law school AND having a fancy law office AND throwing around classic Latin terms like res ipsa loquitur, de novo, habeas corpus, and actus reas, that Buddy knew everything about how to appeal a case.  

Buddy didn't but client didn't know that (and, clearly, neither did Buddy).

I don't know if you know, but appellate cases are much harder (and more costly) to represent than trial cases for a number of reasons, including:

• Appellate law is more technical and research-heavy. You're arguing about legal principles, statutory interpretation, constitutional issues, etc.—not just facts.
• Briefs must be meticulously researched and crafted, and oral arguments involve intense questioning by a panel of judges.
• Appellate deadlines and formatting rules are rigid. A missed deadline or a procedurally deficient brief can sink your appeal, no matter how valid the issue.
• You must often identify “preserved errors”—issues objected to during trial. If something wasn’t preserved, it's often waived on appeal.
• Appellate courts only review the record from the trial court. You can't introduce new facts, so if something wasn't brought up or preserved at trial, it's gone.
• Trial strategy is often collaborative with witnesses, experts, and clients. In appeals, it’s often just the attorney and the law.
• Unlike trial, where emotional appeal and charisma can sway a jury, appellate work requires pure logical reasoning and legal precision. It's a more academic form of advocacy.
• You're persuading experienced judges, not laypeople. They will spot weak arguments instantly.
• You often start from the position of defending a losing argument (if you’re appellant) or protecting a lower court win (if you’re appellee).
• Because trial court judges don't like having their decisions overturned, they are (often) careful how the trial is conducted.  Consequently, the majority of trial court decisions are affirmed (meaning you'll often lose and look bad in front of a now angry client).

The problem here was that Buddy was clueless about how the legal process worked and needed help with his 5th amended brief (the court was kind but patience was wearing thin).  To provide added clarity, the client had started the appeal process and already had had to do 3 amended briefs before encountering Buddy.

Reaching out to me, Buddy wanted me to re-write the brief.  Now, I had never done appellate work.  In fact, the closest I had ever come to appellate court was sitting in the gallery listening to oral arguments.  So, even though Buddy was offering me $80 an hour (remember wife with deep pockets?), I was not willing to help out or put my stamp anywhere near that case.

Consequently, Buddy and the case was bounced out of appellate court and Buddy, consequent to narrowly avoiding a malpractice action with some more well-placed legal terms, quickly down-sized his law office (moving into a closet), and wound up helping neighbors and friends on more simpler cases.

The moral to this story: if ever you are in need of a legal expert, hire someone who knows what they're supposed to know.  

• Been in a car accident?  Hire an attorney with experience in car accidents.
• Need help drafting a Living Trust or durable power of attorney?  Hire an estate planning attorney.
• Having problems with the IRS?  Hire a tax attorney (i.e. someone with accounting and legal experience).
• Looking to get a divorce?  Hire a family law attorney.
• Looking to file a bankruptcy?  Hire an attorney familiar with bankruptcy in your jurisdiction.
• Looking to avoid ICE and want your very own (and legitimate) green card?  Hire an immigration attorney.
  

Now, you could represent yourself by buying a book about what it is you're trying to do from Nolo Press or looking at You Tube videos, but would you really try to build a house not knowing the difference between things electrical and things plumbing?

Yeah, me neither.