Shaheen I. Imami

Despite the negativity that often surrounds the public's view of lawyers, I hope that my perspective of lawyers is not unlike how most lawyers view themselves - that my job is to help clients navigate through confusing and difficult situations.

Effectively serving a client requires a balance of both the "attorney" and "counselor" sides of being a lawyer.  This is not always comfortable or even appreciated at first, but my role is to protect my client's short-term and long-term interests.  So, while a client might not always want to hear what I have to say, he or she might need to hear it in order to best evaluate a situation and make proper decisions.

These tensions are especially prevalent in my firm's practice areas of estate planning, probate, will and trust litigation and administration, conservatorships, and guardianships because the issues often force clients to deal with end of life decisions and raw emotions involving other family members.  This reality can make it more difficult for a client to do what is practical, especially when stark issues of right and wrong are involved.  In fact, it isn't unusual for issues involving "principle" to overshadow basic economics or practicality.  In these situations, I try to counsel clients on the range of potential outcomes, the paths to resolution, and the best estimate of the costs involved.  Yet, if a client is adamant about pursuing something as a matter of principle, then I will devote my full ability to achieving that goal.

Unfortunately, there is always the possibility that a client will be disappointed in an outcome or even with me - and this may be more true in my practice areas than most.  It would be disingenuous for me to say that every one of my clients was happy with how his or her case ended.  But I will say that when a client is dissatisfied, I do my best to find out why and whether anything could have been done to avoid the disappointment.  In the end, I try to devote my full ability to every client and achieve the best result possible under the circumstances.  If I do that, then I've done my job.