Keeping it Legal

I had lunch with a friend who is a lawyer. He doesn’t act for me but I wanted a piece of advice on something so I gave him a call and we met up. I told him about my ongoing sessions with Dr E and Dr O.

“You know,” he said before pausing to drink his diet Pepsi through a straw, ” I wish I had known you or perhaps more accurately known about you previously.” I assumed this was because he felt a void in his life which was only filled when he met me.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“I would have been far more effective at what I do.”

I nodded. I often think that my abilities do rub off on people and enhance them. Clearly my friends has recognised this as well. He did, however, surprise me by going on to explain that what he meant was that it was evident to him that he had a handful of clients who were just like me and moreover he recalls several opponents (meaning both the opposing client and/or their lawyer) behaved as I do. He is a matrimonial lawyer and he confessed that when he would listen to the way these people behaved he just found them astonishing and often he thought the behaviours could not be true. He said that after spending time with me he realised that the superficial charm, refusal to comply with court orders, glibness, sense of entitlement and downright vindictiveness were all borne from their narcissism. If he had been aware of that he could have reacted accordingly.

“For instance, if I knew the ex partner of my client was one of your lot,” he continued, “I would have ensured the agreements were ironclad and involved a psychological assessment to support my client’s position. Looking back they hoodwinked several judges and if I had been aware that could have been stopped. Your lot really do regard the courts as some kind of stage to show off on.”

He continued in a similar vein and was no at all complimentary. I didn’t get around to receiving the advice I was after as I excused myself to visit the toilet and then climbed out of the window. I won’t be having lunch with him again soon.