I know what you are thinking; Tracey is a lawyer, so of course, she is going to recommend that I have a lawyer because she wants me to hire her. I am going to acknowledge right now that this article is going to sound self-serving. But there is really no way around that. So I’m going to say what I think anyway and you can dismiss me if you like. 😉
So here’s the thing. To become a lawyer you need to have a three- year undergrad, write an entrance exam called the LSAT, apply to law school and if you get in (the year I applied Dal accepted 1/17 applicants) you study for three more years, then you have to article for a year which means work in a law firm and complete a checklist under a supervising lawyer of things you should know how to do, complete a 12- week bar admission course, write the bar exam, and if you pass all of that you are called to the bar and licensed to practice. Well, you have to pay professional dues and buy liability insurance, then you are licensed to practice.
Once you start to practice the real learning begins. Law is such an interesting field because every client’s needs and situation are different, so 15 years into my practice I can honestly say that I come across situations every day that I have never seen before. Fortunately my training helps me know where to go to get the information I need to advise my client. I am proud of the knowledge and experience I have earned, and I enjoy working with my clients to assist them in finding a solution to their legal problems.
I am a person who believes I can only be good at what I’m good at, and so for the rest I rely on trusted professionals to give me advice. I know nothing about computers, but I take great comfort in the fact that I have an expert that I call to help me when we have an issue. I know nothing about income tax and CRA compliance, so I have an accountant that I trust to protect me and make sure I meet my tax obligations. I don’t have the interest, or the time, to go online and educate myself about computers to try to fix my latest “glitch” or about tax law to make sure I’m not unintentionally defrauding the government.
So it always concerns me when someone tells me that they drafted their own Separation Agreement, or their own Will. I can tell you that one of my earliest cases was a very intelligent, sophisticated woman who came to my office to discuss a Separation Agreement that she and her husband drafted, without the benefit of legal advice, and when I reviewed it with her I had to advise her that she had agreed to give her husband much more than was required by law. Some of the most complicated estates I have ever had to probate are where a person has died with a do- it- yourself Will kit, and they did not have the expertise to know what they needed to say to properly carry out their instructions in the Will.
I know that people perceive legal services to be expensive. But the reality is that if you try to do your own legal work, and you make a mistake because you were not aware of the intricacies of the law in the area in which you are working, you are likely going to have to pay a lawyer to fix the mistake, which will cost a lot more than if you just hired them to do what you needed in the first place. And remember that if a lawyer does the work for you and we make a mistake we have liability insurance, so our insurer will pay the losses you suffer. If you have been your own lawyer you eat the cost of your mistakes.
If you had a pain in your stomach would you stand in front of your bathroom mirror with a kitchen knife and give yourself an appendectomy? I’m sure you can read all about how to perform the surgery on the internet. No one in their right mind would do that. So why is doing your own legal work any different, I wonder?
Tracey Kennedy is a Partner at Kennedy Schofield Lawyers. Articles posted on this blog are meant to offer general information and should not be relied upon as legal advice. For advice on your specific matter, contact Tracey or any of our lawyers at 902-826-9140.