Speaker 1: Hi guys, today we're going to talk through a few things that you may want to consider when you're deciding whether or when to hire an attorney. First consider the potential for escalation. Up front, I suggest giving your employer some time to work things out with you. I know at the first sign that it's not going to work out, it can be tempting to call an attorney right now. I mean, I thought that if I got an attorney right away, NASA might sort of sober up and obey the law, but instead they took it as an escalation and ramped things up even more. Money is also an important consideration, maybe the most important one. Justice in the EEOC process is expensive. People with attorneys, at least for their hearing, tend to do better. Unfortunately, most of us can't afford to hire an employment attorney for the duration. I couldn't. It's nearly impossible to find a good attorney who takes things on contingency. They are out there. And if you're in the private sector, you'll find it easier to get one. That's because of the potential for punitive damages, which is where those multi-million dollar settlements that we see in the news come from. I was in the federal sector, so no punitive damages, no law, you're on contingency. I had to pay a retainer of several thousand dollars up front, and my attorney's rate was about $500 an hour. That was hard for me. I can't even imagine what it must be like for somebody who lost their job to discrimination. The system is failing the people who need it the most, which is kind of why I started this channel. I can't represent you, and I can't guarantee you'll win if you do what I did. What I can do is share what I learned on my journey, and hopefully help you on yours. But people do win by representing themselves. Next, timing. Time is money, and as expensive as they are, I wanted to put off hiring an attorney as long as I possibly could. In most situations, you don't actually need a lawyer to file a complaint. If you're in the private sector, depending where you live, you might have more protections than EEOC gives you. And in that case, talking to an attorney as early as possible is a good idea. It can make a really big difference in how much you recover. Another thing you can do besides hiring an attorney to represent you right away is pay for a one-time consult, preferably with a local attorney who's familiar with your employer and how they operate. It cost me about $500 for an hour of an attorney's undivided attention, and it was worth it. He told me exactly what I could expect from NASA and how to set my case up for success from the beginning. If you can't afford to pay for a consult, most of the online attorneys will give you a free one. A lot of them will try to discourage you. The good ones will give you some free advice on how to build a strong case, and they'll tell you when to call them back. Beware the ones that try to get you to send them money right away. One thing about online law firms, the attorney you speak with at your intake may not be the one who ends up representing you. For me, that wasn't a deal-breaker, but if you want to know your attorney before you send money, fair enough. You can ask. Also, ask for a copy of the firm's contract well before you plan to hire anybody. And pay special attention to what happens if you lose. And here again, I suggest looking at a few contracts before you decide. Another consideration if you have to represent yourself is your skill set. I handle my case myself up to the point of NASA's Motion for Summary judgment, which is usually the last big hurdle before you get your hearing at EEOC. I do know employees who have represented themselves all the way through and won. It happens. But you do have to have the skill set for it. First you need to be able to read and comprehend legal documents. If you can read at a 10th grade level, you're probably going to be okay. As long as you're willing to take some time and learn the vocabulary. You're not going to have to understand every little detail that you read. But the more of it you can understand, the better off you'll be. You have to be organized. That's because you have to be able to organize and handle your evidence in a way that supports your case. I have a video on how I did that, and there's a link in the description. You need to be able to think rationally, to build your case, and to refute your employer's arguments. If you're good at arguing, that'll play in your favor here. Just keep in mind that you also need to be able to follow instructions to a T. EEOC is very picky, especially about timeliness, terminology, and the rules. They publish a lot of helpful materials, but they won't do the work for you. You ultimately have to get it done according to their instructions. The last thing to consider is your expectations. TV attorneys are like superheroes. They rush in with their crisp suits and their briefcases to save the day. My attorney was a bulldog, and she was excellent at what she did. She was no superhero. And she definitely didn't save the day all on her own. I did most of the work. Way before I could afford to hire her, I had to formulate my own legal strategy, gather my own evidence, think my own way through the questionnaires and interrogatories. And even after I hired her, I drafted my own responses to things like NASA's motion for summary judgment. She took my drafts and she beefed up my arguments and made them better. And she didn't hold my hand like a TV attorney. She returned my calls, but she wasn't very proactive. And frankly, at $500 an hour, I don't think I could have afforded very much proactive. But a couple weeks before my hearing, she kicked into high gear. She knew EEOC enforcement guidance and the law like the back of her hand, so she came up to speed really fast. And she blew me away at my hearing with how good she was. And $500 an hour? She should have. By the time my hearing was over, her fees were about $150,000. Our contract said that if she lost, I'd get a reduced rate, so I would have only owed her about $70,000, which was still more than I had. It was terrifying to see that bill go up. So I made some arrangements for a part-time work-at-home gig to pay her back if I had to do that. Would have taken me about three years. Thankfully, we won. And the judge ordered NASA to pay 100% of my attorney fees. NASA appealed that decision. They said that since I had filed multiple claims in the beginning and I'd lost on some of those claims, that they shouldn't have to pay for the claims I lost on. But the judge said that the claim that I did went on was central to the others, and he refused to split them up. So NASA paid the whole bill. So the bottom line is that, yeah, an experienced employment attorney can help you build and present a stronger case. And they really help take the pressure off when you have to go to court. But if you can't afford one, representing yourself is a valid option. And in some situations, it might be the only option. And if that's you, try to hang in. Because there's help out there. I forgot to mention in this video, there's one other thing you have to be... Badass.