THE POSSIBLY APOCRYPHAL RETAINER
Jake Kossman met with a new client and told him that he would need a $500 retainer before they talked. The
client wrote out a check for $500. When they finished, Jake ran to the bank to cash the check. He returned to
the office in an unhappy mood and told the lawyer with whom he shared space that the check was no good, that
the client had only $450 in his account. “Too bad,” said his colleague, “you’re out $500.” “No,” said Jake, “only
$50. I deposited $50 into his account and the bank cashed the check.” Recently, I learned that Steve LaCheen,
for whom Jake served as a mentor, wrote a more detailed and no doubt more accurate account of this episode in
Verdict, January 2022, p. 35.
VOIR DIRE
Fellow Jim Leyden was an old-time accident defense lawyer, representing the local Yellow Cab Company. In voir
dire, Jim would typically say something like, “Ladies and gentlemen, at the end of this trial, the judge will tell
you that you cannot find in favor of Mrs. Murphy even though she was injured while a cab passenger unless you
find that the cab driver was negligent. Is there anyone here who would have difficulty following that instruction?”
Never had a hand gone up. Until one day, a little old guy at the back of the room raised his hand. The judge’s
efforts to rehabilitate the prospective juror were unsuccessful. So the judge called counsel to sidebar and, before any
of the lawyers got a chance to say a word, said, “Yes, yes, Mr. Leyden, your motion to strike for cause is granted,”
and then added, “Isn’t it amazing, the only honest person in the courtroom and we won’t let him on the jury?”
OPENING
For years, Jim walked from one courtroom to another at City Hall to defend another cab company case. On one occasion
the jury came back with a verdict so fast that Jim had no time to review the file on the next case before it started trial. Jim
listened closely to counsel for plaintiff’s opening as he laid out his version of the facts. With no idea what his defense was,
Jim stood and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, if those were the facts, do you think I’d be here?” And sat down.
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