Rejecting Or Accepting Cases

[gowan]

As a lawyer, working for someone, would you have the choice of rejecting or accepting a case? Or do you have to work on whatever has been passed to you?

[Omar]

Layla,

If you are an associate in a law firm, corporation or other practice environment, you must generally accept all assignments from your supervising attorneys unless a conflict of interest exists.  Often a full workload does not excuse you from accepting another assignment – you may be expected to work more hours to complete the project.  Generally, the more experience and clout you have in a firm, the choosier you can be regarding assignments.  I would not advise turning down work early in your career.  I have witnesses many associates’ careers falter because they wanted to pick and choose assignments.

If you are a partner or solo practitioner, you have some discretion in whether to accept a case from a client.  Generally, you will want to meet with the client to determine the merits of his or her case.  Some lawyers also reject clients who demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to pay their legal fees. To learn more about the practice of law, visit my legal careers website at About.com, scheduled to launch this month.

Sally