I hate bullies. I hate bullies who bluster and take positions and threaten people they perceive to be vulnerable. I like when those same bullies fold like a house of cards when I step up to protect the victims of the bullies.
Lately there are a lot of unrepresented litigants on our Business Law files. In Ontario, companies cannot represent themselves without permission from the Court. That permission will be denied if the proposed corporate representatives display bad behaviour. Sadly, bullies can’t help themselves.
Bullies love to leave lengthy voicemails for me, telling me exactly what they think of me and using “colourful” language – see you next Tuesday language, if you know what I mean. It’s delightful. Not. It’s also helpful, because it means those bullies have to either pay for a lawyer or confront the reality of their situation. It’s in that moment, they cave.
Bullies never have the law on their side. Bullies never pause to consider that what they see as a threat is merely pointing out the law. Bullies need to be shut down and stopped.
I’m a Raptors fan and once of my favourite moments this year was early in the fall when veteran Fred Van Vleet told second year player Precious Achiuwa in a huddle near the end of a game “be a wall, be a f’ing wall.”
When it comes to bullies, I’m a wall. I’m an f’ing wall and will stop them from coming at my clients.
Does your business litigator do that?
Inga B. Andriessen, Principal Lawyer