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A Power of Attorney, in its strict legal sense, is a document in which someone gives another the authority to make certain decisions and act on behalf of the person granting said Power of Attorney. The person to whom the power is given is called an “attorney-in-fact." The person to whom the Power of Attorney is given does not have to be an attorney. The most important duty of the attorney-in-fact is to act as a fiduciary, making certain that all actions taken under the Power of Attorney is in the best interest of the person granting the Power of Attorney (called the “principal”). However, it should be noted that the Power of Attorney vests tremendous power to the recipient and as a result, the attorney-in-fact must be someone the principal trusts implicitly. That requirement alone would ordinarily exempt the majority of attorneys in this country, since we can trust an attorney about as far as we can throw him (although throwing an attorney would provide tremendous entertainment). It does seem a bit ironic however that a Power of Attorney document is drafted (a fancy lawyer word for “written”) by an attorney. So even though you generally wouldn’t trust an attorney to exercise your wishes under the Power of Attorney, you still need the attorney to pen the document. One way or another, the attorney still manages to snare you. Which leads us to our rant of the month. While a Power of Attorney can be a legal instrument as outlined above, there is another kind of power of attorney that should concern us all - and that’s the unrestrained power afforded attorneys under the law. The power an attorney possesses and can wield over the rest of us non-attorney types is immense. In fact, immense may be an understatement. When this omnipotent power finds its way into the hands of an unscrupulous, amoral, power crazed attorney who is wont to play fast and lose with the law, the ensuing results can be staggering to the poor sap who gets in this attorney’s way. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of the merciless wrath and fury of an attorney on the warpath, you have in all likelihood experienced firsthand the intimidating power that attorney had at his or her disposal. Power and attorney are inseparable terms these days. Just the mere fact that someone is an attorney provides that individual with an immense amount of power at his or her disposal. Attorneys, particularly those corrupt sorts who frequently dance around in the gray areas of the law, are well versed in using the law as a hammer to pound the daylights out of the other side in a lawsuit. Think about it for a moment, an attorney can waylay you with a lawsuit at anytime and any place. Like it or not, an attorney has the power to file a lawsuit against you regardless of whether or not you’ve done anything wrong. After all, right and wrong are barely relevant concepts anymore in today’s sue or be sued litigation crazed society. While the attorney isn’t supposed to file frivolous lawsuits, they have the power to do so. Besides, what’s to stop them nowadays? Nothing really. An attorney has the power and you on the other hand, have squat. An attorney armed with a lawsuit can swoop in from nowhere and turn your entire life upside down in the blink of an eye. Once the lawsuit has been served, the attorney has quite a bit of power over you. The attorney has the power to make you show up for a deposition and question you for hours on end. The attorney has the power to force you to answer what seems like an endless set of interrogatories and the power to compel you to produce documents out the wazoo. The attorney has the power to accuse you of everything under the sun, with little attention paid to the validity of said allegations. The attorney has the power to impugn your integrity and besmirch your reputation at will. The attorney has the power to recreate the facts, distort the truth and to put words in your mouth to suit his our her own fancy. At trial, the attorney has the power to belittle you, embarrass you and humiliate you as much as he or she fits to do so. The attorney has the power to call you a liar when you’re telling the truth. The attorney has the power to call you a cheat when you’ve never cheated anyone in your life. As a matter of fact, the attorney has the power to call you anything and everything imaginable and even unimaginable while you have little recourse but to sit there and take it. Come on, should anyone have this kind of power over anyone? Of course not. In today’s jurisprudence an attorney, regardless of whether he or she is a super straight shooter or is in fact the biggest flimflam artist known to mankind, possesses the power to make their opponents life a living hell. No one should have the unmitigated power that the legal system affords attorneys. No one. Attorneys are quick to espouse their esteemed position as supposed officers of the court and how their comportment is professional and consistent with the ethical requirements of the job. What a crock! The only requirements of attorneys these days is the innate ability to fleece their clientele. And as far as integrity is concerned, these shysters wouldn’t know the letter of the law if it sneaked up and bit them in the butt. Attorneys on power trips have made a mockery of America’s legal system and it’s high time we pull the plug on their power supply before it’s too late. It’s time to Wake Up and Smell the Lawyers. Hey, if you’ve got a goofy lawsuit you’d like to pass on to us, simply click Stupid Lawsuits and Other Funny Stuff and we’ll add yours to our ever growing list of stupid lawsuits. And while you’re at in, why not take a few moments and check out our growing collection of Funny Lawyer Quotes, Jokes and Cartoons? It’s Time to Wake Up and Smell the Lawyers Book: If you haven’t read our highly acclaimed book, you’re missing out on a load of information about America’s legal system – and a load of laughs as well. You can read excerpts taken from the book by clicking book chapter summaries here. You can sign up for our FREE newsletter by clicking subscribe in the box on the left of the page. Please tell your friends, relatives and business associates about our Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter. They can subscribe at our web site: www.power-of-attorneys.com (of course you can e-mail this newsletter to them!). If you would like to review past issues of our Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter, simply click view back issues of our newsletter. We always respect your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with anyone. If, at any time, you decide that you don’t want to receive this newsletter any more, simply click the unsubscribe link within the body of your newsletter. Thanks for reading this issue of the Lawyers Stink E-mail Newsletter and we’ll see you next month. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions about our newsletter.
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