Lawyers
are
taught
that
they
should
exploit
every
advantage
possible
to
serve
a
client’s
interests. Indeed,
some
might
argue
that
a
lawyer’s
duty
of
diligence
requires
that
an
attorney
take
every
step
that
will
advance
a
client’s
position
even
if
this
might
unfairly
impact
other
stakeholders
to
a
dispute. However,
lawyers
may
feel
they
cannot
exploit
certain
advantages
in
good
conscience
since
it
would
be
unfair
to
other
parties
and
may
hurt
long-term
relationships
with
other
lawyers
or
stakeholders
involved
in
a
matter.
Numerous
times
in
my
career,
I
have
exploited
mistakes
made
by
adversaries. Some
adversaries
have
alleged
that
it
was
wrong
for
me
to
do
so,
but
usually
adversaries
were
simply
upset
that
their
mistakes
had
been
surfaced
and
that
they
did
not
follow
correct
procedures
in
the
first
instance. Indeed,
I
have
even
secured
the
dismissal
of
cases
since
adversaries
failed
to
follow
rules
which
deprived
a
court
of
jurisdiction
or
otherwise
fatally
impacted
a
case.
On
the
other
hand,
in
several
circumstances
in
my
career,
courts
have
dismissed
cases
against
defendants
I
represented
because
the
courts
themselves
made
mistakes. For
instance,
in
one
jurisdiction
in
which
I
practice,
it
is
common
for
courts
to
administratively
dismiss
a
case
because
they
believe
a
party
did
not
attend
a
court
conference
or
is
not
pursuing
discovery. One
time,
a
court
dismissed
a
case
since
the
court
did
not
see
that
my
adversary
and
I
had
resolved
a
motion
to
dismiss
on
our
own,
and
this
is
why
my
adversary
did
not
file
opposition
papers
to
my
motion
to
dismiss.
Courts
are
overburdened,
and
they
are
prone
to
making
mistakes
just
like
everyone
else.
When
I
secured
an
advantage
because
a
court
made
mistakes,
I
never
sought
to
exploit
an
advantage
on
behalf
of
my
client. I
told
my
adversaries
that
I
would
help
them
get
the
cases
back
on
track
and
that
I
understood
that
a
negative
result
had
occurred
because
of
a
judicial
mistake
rather
than
anything
that
the
lawyer
did
or
did
not
do. In
such
circumstances,
I
put
myself
in
the
shoes
of
my
adversary
and
hoped
that
other
lawyers
involved
in
a
dispute
would
refrain
from
exploiting
an
unfair
advantage
if
I
was
in
the
same
situation
as
the
other
lawyer.
In
some
circumstances,
clients
have
explicitly
requested
that
I
exploit
an
unfair
advantage
obtained
due
to
a
court
error,
even
though
I
did
not
want
to
exploit
the
situation. Clients
are
often
very
emotional
when
they
are
involved
in
a
legal
matter,
and
they
are
sometimes
filled
with
bitterness
or
anger
due
to
the
circumstances
that
required
them
to
get
involved
in
the
legal
process. They
usually
do
not
understand
that
courts
made
a
mistake
and
that
it
would
be
unfair
to
take
advantage
of
the
situation.
In
such
circumstances,
I
usually
try
to
explain
the
practical
benefits
of
not
taking
advantage
of
an
unfair
benefit
that
resulted
from
a
court
error. Exploiting
such
an
advantage
would
likely
sour
connections
to
adversaries
that
could
make
it
more
difficult
to
resolve
a
given
matter. In
addition,
lawyers
may
need
courtesies
down
the
road,
and
adversaries
may
be
less
willing
to
grant
courtesies
if
another
lawyer
connected
with
a
matter
exploited
an
unfair
advantage. In
addition,
courts
may
not
look
kindly
upon
lawyers
who
took
advantage
of
a
court
error,
and
refraining
from
exploiting
such
an
advantage
can
elevate
a
lawyer’s
image
in
front
of
a
court.
All
told,
lawyers
may
instinctively
want
to
take
advantage
of
every
benefit
that
a
client
realized
during
a
dispute,
even
if
it
was
the
result
of
a
court
error
or
other
unfair
situation. However,
lawyers
should
play
the
long
game
and
not
exploit
unfair
advantages
to
the
detriment
of
adversaries.
Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of
The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of
Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at
[email protected].