Be VERY CAREFUL of who you offer to help!

Be VERY CAREFUL of who you offer to help!

Recently a colleague and I had the most horrible experience trying to help someone with their custody case before the NOIDA court.

A colleague reached out saying someone needed help, and if I could speak to them. Of course, I agreed. I got on a short call with the Client where he told me that his daughter was not getting the right mental healthcare treatment in the custody of her mother, and since the man was abroad, he needed someone to pursue his case. His previous lawyer was in Tis Hazari - so of course he wasn't going for the hearings all the way across Delhi to Greater NOIDA!

After listening to the Client ramble for 15-20 minutes, I assured him that I will take his case. But for us to strategise, I will need to se the case files. The Client informed me that the files were with his lawyer in THC and asked me to get them picked. The Client asked for my fee at this stage, and I told him that I will have to get on a detailed call him to understand the background, then go over the file, and then I will be able to quote the fee. I did assure him that fee would not be an issue for him and I would accommodate his requests since he came through a referral.

Next day, I took in a favour from my colleague to get the filed picked from THC, then got them WeFast-ed to me at my own expense (which is not much, but it's still something). Around evening I informed the Client that I have received the files and we can schedule a meeting. On his request, I agreed to schedule a meeting for 9am on Saturday, which I most definitely do not. I do no meetings before 4pm as a rule.

Once I sent the Client the meeting details, everything went downhill. I had mentioned the fee for a one hour meeting for "Legal Opinion". The Client went berserk on me saying he did not want an opinion, he just wanted to me to take his case. Again - I clarified that I will need to get on a call with him + go over the file in detail for us to strategise together.

The Client transferred the money saying I have "trapped" him because now his previous lawyer would not take the case back. I called the referral and asked her to speak to the Client. All three of us got on a con-call where the Client was out of control and kept saying all sorts of things. He also mentioned how I was blackmailing him (for a good 40 minutes or so).

At this stage, I mentioned that I will not be taking the case and they both can figure where I have to get the files dropped (duh, how do you help someone who thinks you are blackmailing them?!!). I transferred back the fee the Client had paid for the meeting.

The next day I received a call from the person who had transferred me the fee on behalf of the Client. He wanted to understand if there was a transaction failure. I informed him that I would not be taking the case and that he could share his address with me and I would get the file sent. I also informed that I will be sending the file thorugh We-Fast, so whatever 1-200 rupees was the charge, he should pay.

By this time, I had blocked the Client for obvious reasons. The colleague who referred the case to me forwarded the Client's message to me, which said "she is asking for more money" and that he will file an "NRI complaint" with the Police against me and her.

By this point, I had had enough. I had to tell the colleague to figure it on her own, and I had no bandwidth to deal with such utter non-sense. The colleague informed me that she did not know the man directly and only offered to help after learning about his case from common peeps/some whatsapp group where his text was forwarded (I am not clear on the details).

Now you may think this is the end of it, but well, it is not.

Eventually the colleague got an address from the Client where the file was to be delivered. Around 7pm, the files were picked up from my place. I got a call from the colleague around 8pm that the person at the address was not only refusing to take the file but also threatening to call the police. Of course I had nothing to say.

The person at the delivery address also told the colleague that he needed guarantee that all the docs were in place and threatened her some more.

The call where I was called a "blackmailer" "trapping" clients was two days ago. I am still reeling from the shock of it. I sincerely did think I could help the man, but how do you help someone who has led themselves to believe that the world is out to get them?

In hindsight, I am definitely smarter. Moving on:

1. I am not going to take cases through referrals till the referrals can actually vouch that they know a person directly.

2. I had stopped responding to calls for help made through whatsapp groups and social media - I am going to enforce that for myself even more strictly.

3. I will get on a detailed call with the potential client + referral before letting my emotions take over and me committing to help.

Hopefully the next few weeks will settle the mental exhaustion caused to two people, both of whom were just trying to help a stranger in need.