9/1/21 Josh’s 2nd PRG. Today at 7pm, James H from New York and Josh in California all gathered on Zoom to do what is called a Pressure Relief Group (PRG). This was the second time around for Josh. James and I have been in DA for a few years now and have both had several PRGs ourselves. Well, this is our way of giving back what was so freely given to us and a cornerstone of the program. Today, Josh shared about how his law partner flipped out on him when he demanded to know what the payment structure was going to be for new matters that she brought to him.
To back up a little bit, in Josh’s last PRG, we discussed the four plans that make up what I refer to as the “PRG Dashboard.” These are 1) The Income Plan, 2) The Spending Plan, 3) The Debt Repayment Plan and 4) The Savings Plan. We focused on Plan #1, the income for his first PRG. He is a plaintiff attorney who is basically struggling to make ends meet. He gets paid on a contingency basis, which like all the other attorneys out there, he brings home about 33-40% of the final settlement agreement or judgement. However, these can take years from start to finish and cash can run out quickly. So, we decided to focus on the Income plan and James, and I suggested that he try to get a “draw” against future earnings.
I shared how when I was starting out selling Priority Management training programs, I couldn’t afford to put gas in my car, let alone provide groceries and contribute toward a house payment. So, my boss at the time paid me about $400 per week against future earnings. Once I had developed a steady client base and had money coming in the door, the $400 per week would just be taken off those earnings.
That allowed me to eat and not look for outside work such as lawn care or waiting tables in order to simply put gas in the car. That is exactly what he needed. He needed to either work by the hour to help this new law partner or he needed to ask for a draw against future commissions. Well, today when he reported in about the status of this partnership, he said that it was blowing up! He said she brought him a case and asked him to work on it, saying that it was super urgent, and she needed help on it. There was a few papers to write, and she wanted his help. As the junior attorney, he knew what to do but was afraid that he wasn’t going to be compensated for it. He pointed to the contract that was between the two partners and said we must agree upon the percentage and fee schedule before I do any work on this case. She flipped out and said cussed him out and grabbed the paper saying that “she would write the f’in paper herself.”
He left the office based on being triggered from past trauma of workplace abuse from the previous employment situations. She in turn flipped out based on having had a bookkeeper leave her and feeling the same abandonment issues. It was a nightmare for the two of them. I suggested that what he was trying to do was impossible. There was no way for him or her to know how much work is left on a case, if 20% of the work is left or 40%…that model won’t work. I offered a different option. I said, why don’t you offer to help her on all of her old cases for an hourly rate of $100 per hour, or something like that. I said what would you charge per hour? He said I bill out to my clients at $150 per hour, a neighboring attorney would charge her $120 per hour to do this same work, he said he thinks he should request $120 per hour. I said “Well, if she comes back and says that that is too much, say that you will work on her old cases for a package deal of 20 hours per week at $100 per hour, that comes to $2000 per week. That will give him the remining 20-30 hours left in the week to work on his newer cases which were strictly contingent based.
He loved that idea and I suggested that he journal about it, getting out all of his fears, gratitude’s, his pressures and opportunities of working with her. I stressed how we don’t quit a job before we have the next one lined up.
