Your Client Is Not a “Problem,” She’s a Survivor.

By Erika Jacobsen White, Esq.

Recently, I attended a meeting with a few colleagues who also represent employees and survivors of civil rights violations. Many of them brilliant attorneys. At this meeting, I heard lots of “war” stories. Lawyers love to talk. While listening to one such story, however, I had to take pause. I don’t blog often, but this felt worthy of a clip. This attorney was talking about a client of his. She survived a horrific sexual assault at work. She turned to him for help. The case resolved for big money. While he bragged about the case and his excellent result, he referred to her as a “problem” client. Laughter from a few of those listening into our conversation. I was dumbfounded.

As the story went on, it became clear that this brave woman was “problematic” for him because she refused to cave. She refused to cave when she was told it was a “he said, she said,” situation that she would likely lose at trial. She refused to cave when it came out that the perpetrator of this horrific assault perjured himself multiple times throughout the course of the lawsuit. She refused to cave when the company came back with repeatedly higher offers. She wanted justice – her lawyer wanted compliance. He took a paternalistic and sexist view of her trauma. He did not see her as survivor, he saw her as a barrier to his own gain. He recounted the ways he tried to pressure her to resolve her case. He laughed about how unreasonable she was. He even admitted that he knew she didn’t trust him. I can see why.

Now, don’t get me wrong, a part of every lawyer's job is to tell their client the truth. Sometimes the law isn’t on your side. Sometimes the facts of a situation are nuanced and hard. Sometimes (oftentimes) the system is brutal and unfair. Sometimes we lose. It is our responsibility counsel our clients about the risks involved at every stage of litigation. It is our job to keep it real and let them know when they are at a crossroads, to help them make prudent decisions that will help us present their case in the best light - but the reason we do this is to help our clients make tough decisions about their lives. It is our job to help our clients feel empowered, dignified, and respected. When we act in ways that amplify the violence of the system – in ways that reenact the patriarchal and racist structures that we fight against, we are not serving our clients.

So often sexual assault survivors are told they, “asked for it.” The trauma of their lived experience is minimized, devalued, and disbelieved. For those precious few who are brave enough to come forward, they face a brutal system of justice that is designed to make them give up. Sometimes they do. But when a woman is able to stand up, fight back, and insist that her voice be heard, that isn’t a problem, that is a revolution.

#metoo #standupfightback #HERstory #NotAProblemARevolution