The first part of the title of this article is a quote from my mother, who has repeated these words as far back as I can remember. However, my minimalist effort to conduct research before I write stuff uncovered that the quote is attributed to some fellow named Alan Sheinwald. I really don’t know who stole it from who. But, as Mr. Hayes, my grade nine math teacher, used to say, “it makes no never mind.”
The point is that those with money seem to get a better deal in life. Allow me to illustrate with a story about my friend and client, Dennis.
Dennis had money. He had parked a great deal of it with the investment arm of a major Canadian Bank. He also had a credit card with the same bank with a $50,000 credit limit.
One day Dennis took a trip to Germany where he sat in a bar and downed a few. A few days later his credit card balance hit $65,000, which made his beers pretty expensive. It seemed clear that his PIN was skimmed, and he was scammed. We won’t even get into why the Bank allowed his credit limit to be exceeded by $15,000.
Dennis was not too concerned. After all, his Bank advertised extensively about how they protected their customers from fraudulent charges.
So here is what happened next:
1. Dennis asked the Bank for his money back;
2. The Bank told Dennis that he was out of luck because the charge was made with his PIN;
3. I wrote a brilliant letter to the Bank telling them that I would rain the hell-fires of eternal damnation upon their heads (and sue them) if they did not reimburse Dennis in full, and pronto; and
4. The Bank reimbursed Dennis in full and apologized.
Being an attention-hog with a deep-seated need for approval, likely arising from a troubled childhood and a failed first marriage, I was sure that Dennis would express his extreme gratitude to me, and cheerfully pay an exorbitant amount for my very persuasive letter.
When I fished for compliments and positive reviews, Dennis acknowledged that my letter may have been of some help in recouping his funds. However, he proffered the opinion that his phone call to his investment advisor telling them to fix it or lose several tens of millions of dollars of investment business may have been the root cause of the Bank’s change of heart.
Which brings me to my point and a lesson to young lawyers. Your job is to look for leverage to help your clients achieve their goals. Being correct in law is good. Having a tonne of money is better.
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.