All too often a disagreement quickly turns into an unnecessary lawsuit.  The root of the problem can sometimes be a hungry lawyer who is more interested in feeding his or her family than assisting their client with resolving a simple dispute.  Yes, that’s right.  Lawyers have to make a living too.  But, lawyers who encourage battles only to line their own pockets are the kind of lawyers you should avoid.    

If your lawyer is not cautioning you about the costs and uncertainty of letting a dispute blow up into a lawsuit, but is instead encouraging you to fan the flames of the fire, find a new lawyer.  If your lawyer seems to be doing everything possible to stall a settlement by insisting on unreasonable deadlines and complex documentation, find a lawyer who can get it done without giving you excuses about how complex it needs to be.   Chances are, it does not have to be that complex.  Chances are that if your lawyer is making it that way it is because he or she is running up your bill, helping feed his or her friends in the firm by having them draft unnecessary documents, and, perhaps, more interested in seeing settlement fail so that they can keep you in litigation and keep the churning out bills.      

Search for a lawyer who you can speak to.  Search for a lawyer who asks you whether you really want to scorch the earth in litigation versus offers to do it for you.  Search for a lawyer who is trying to keep you focused on what you do for a living, not keep you focused on what the lawyer does for a living.