A Critical Point in Dealing with a Client from Hell

By Pam Wylie Powell

What do you do when you have a litigious client who will sue anyone, anywhere, at any time – and your manager isn’t taking the steps he needs to take to protect your organization against this client? Some key issues needed to be put down in writing. The manager felt everything was okay, but it wasn’t.

A situation like that happened some years ago. I was in charge of documenting “what is” at a client. That meant I dug into the client’s computer systems and wrote up what the existing functions were and how they operated. With this information in hand, my colleagues could determine what changes were needed and tell the client what software had to be purchased and installed to move the client away from its obsolescent systems.

Pretty simple, but as I looked into the client’s documentation it became clear we were not dealing with a standard client. This client seemed to operate at the far fringes of ethicality:

Over the course of several years, four of the five big accounting firms had terminated their professional relationship with our client.

The fifth of the big five accounting firms was in the process of terminating its relationship with them.

The client tried to hold consulting firms captive, demanding services beyond those specified in the contract, with the threat of lawsuits if the firms didn’t cooperate.

The client’s corporate lawyer was lean, young, and dour. Dressed daily in a professional-looking grey suit, he had the leggy walk and look of a grey wolf surveying his domain for the weak and vulnerable.

In short, we were stuck with a contract with a client from hell. I did not want us looking like wolf-food so I approached my manager.

Pam: “Hey, Jim [not his real name]. Did you inform our client in writing that they had to make all the changes indicated or their operations could fall apart?”

Jim: “Oh, we’ve told them that at every meeting.”

Pam: “Did you put it in writing?”

Jim: “They’re aware of it. They’ve agreed. It’s okay.”

Pam: “It’s got to be in writing.”

Jim shrugged it off and walked away. I sat down at my computer and dashed a note off to Jim:

Dear Jim:

If it ever goes to court, the judge will not want to know when you told the client that all the changes needed to be made. The judge will want to see where you informed the client in writing that all the changes must be made.

I signed and dated the note and took it to Jim’s office. He wasn’t there so I left it on his keyboard.

Two minutes later, Jim showed up, his hand shaking the note.

“You’re right! We’ve got to write them!”

And so we did and were protected. The note on Jim’s keyboard awakened him to the power of the written word. If he didn’t inform the client in writing of the dangers of inaction, and the client chose to sue us, my note would let the world know that Jim himself had been warned of a danger and had chosen to ignore it.

Jim saw the sword of Damocles hanging over his own head and, wisely, shifted it to where it belonged – hanging over the head of the client.

A month or so after this, the client’s lawyer strode into the building. There was a look about him. His face had softened. I wasn’t sure what it was but he looked, oh, say, comfortable in his own skin. Not rangy and mean. We found out later that day that he gave notice. He didn’t want to work for that company. He wasn’t a true wolf after all.

The client hired another wolf, er, I mean, lawyer. The client bought all the appropriate software. Our team got the software installed, tested, working. We packed our notes and went home.

Our erstwhile client sued the software companies and refused to pay them for the software. I sighed when I heard this. We had made a point of telling these companies, “Everything you agree to with this client, get it in writing!”

I wish I could tell you what kind of client it was, but as I said, this particular one is extremely litigious so just assume that if I say the company was an ice-making firm in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, it was the farthest thing from it!

Pam Powell is an author, playwright and radio personality living in Springfield, OR. Connect with her on Linked In.