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[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Not Bob
Spoken like someone who charges her clients by the hour. (I do not mean this in a derogatory way.)

Many very successful lawyers do stuff like this all the time. Sometimes even deliberately, so that the opponent will underestimate them. (Yes, I am Not Kidding. I have a friend who does exactly that. He also changed his official bar name from "Andrew" to "Andy" when he left the big defense firm to become a plaintiff's lawyer.)

Even if it is unintentional, and they are poor writers/speakers, it is Not Relevant to their practice. I had a case a few years ago with a guy on the other side who is a gazillionaire and who is occasionally seen in the paper with his Bentley collection. Or his personal Gulfstream. Or who bought a Picasso for $14 million. Whichever. Anyway, this guy wrote the crappiest pleadings and briefs I have ever seen -- and they were obvious cut and paste jobs to boot (his office apparently didn't even bother using the "find and replace" feature on Word because half of the allegations were that Mr. Markowitz suffered something, and the other half were about Mrs. Shicklegruber).

Despite winning the grammar wars (not easy for me to do, by the way), my client ended up paying this guy's client approximately what a Yankees utility infielder made last year. Not including the fee claim.

what is a fee claim?