Ithaca DWI Lawyer: Help Me Help You

Hollywood Reporter, Jerry McGuire, Sports Agent

You know I love the movie Jerry McGuire. Jerry (Tom Cruise) is a sport agent representing players. This movie speaks to me as a person trying to help people with their legal problems. Often I feel communication is the key to a great relationship.

So why is it so hard at times to guide people into setting up the best outcome for their case?

Why do clients have as much frustration with their attorneys as attorneys do with their clients?

It Takes a Team Approach to Get the Best Outcome Possible 

In Jerry McGuire Tom Cruise begs his client to "Help Me Help You." The client must assist the lawyer. It is true that no one person by their self ever accomplishes anything great. Two people together, working in harmony for  a common purpose and specific goal can do more than either one alone. This is called the Mastermind Principle.

Think and Grow Rich is More than A Good Book

The Mastermind Principle of success has been written about for over a hundred years. It goes all the way back to the when men like Firestone, Edison, and Schwab met with their other highly successful friends to plan on building this country and it's industrialization. They turned and multiplied their assets together for the greater good. This allowed us to have the resources to be successful as a nation.

Napoleon Hill met with these great people, studied their mental patterns, and learned their secrets. He wrote about them in his famous book "Think and Grow Rich." A Mastermind is a friendly alliance among people to support and in my mind to also challenge great growth. You can do more with an alliance with the right people than you ever could on your own.

How to Apply the Mastermind Principle to Criminal Defense

DWI and criminal defense lawyers work best when allying with their clients. Firstly, the professional lawyer MUST explain their game plan for the case. So it all begins with regular and ongoing case communication. Who is ultimately responsible for the client getting it? The communicatOR must keep explaining in multiple ways until the communicatEE gets IT1

Second is having the client be proactive in assisting with their defense. There is no better way than to align with the client's goals and explain how they could be reached. What is the criminal defense ACTION PLAN?

If the client is kept in the dark, much like a mushroom how can they know why they are doing what they are doing? People don't do well acting with no to little reason behind it.

WHY? WHY? WHY? Is like a battle cry. WHY am I going to classes or doing anything for the case. What is the overall plan and how will it work?

Proactivity Must Always Have a Purpose and a Reason Behind It

In a DWI case with a history of alcohol and/or drug use or abuse then one of the keys becomes proving current  and future sobriety. Showing as much proactivity of going to a program, going to AA, going to NA, and testing clean.

It starts with documenting everything being done. If it's NOT recorded it never happened. Being recorded adds legitimacy to everything you do.

Above and beyond that are letters of character. Letters from an employer. Letters from family, friends, and clergy. These letters require structure. They require guidance before they are written.

Pictures, diplomas, and newspaper clippings when organized and curated can be powerful tools of persuasion. Not thrown together willy nilly but in a package. It's the packaging that may sway the tide. Do not discount anything done with a greater purpose in mind.

Everything done is done for a greater purpose, to alleviate the harsher consequences of a criminal sentence.

Lawrence Newman is a partner in Newman and Cyr which focuses on DWI and criminal defense in the Fingerlakes region of New York State. contact larry@ithacacdwi.com