Lewis a victim of his own success?

Busy lawyers can make mistakes. And Neil J. Lewis was a very busy lawyer indeed.

A hearing judge in one of the disciplinary cases pending against him found he had 800 open cases during the year he was being investigated, principally for improprieties in the way he handled client funds.

Lewis himself testified at the hearing that any errors were “inadvertent and the result of his hectic and very busy work schedule,” the hearing judge noted.

While the only limit on the number of cases an attorney can take on is the number he or she can competently handle, many personal injury lawyers said a caseload of 800 was extraordinary.

“I don’t know how you ever do it,” said Mallon A. Snyder, a Rockville lawyer who has handled personal injury cases for 35 years. “Unless you’re settling everything, it can’t be done.”

Even with a high-tech case management system, 800 cases would be stretch, other lawyers said.

“You only get one chance to miss the statute of limitations,” said John B. Bratt, a Towson solo practitioner.

Lewis is scheduled to appear before the Court of Appeals in November in the disciplinary action brought by Bar Counsel for the Attorney Grievance Commission. A second disciplinary action was filed against him in early July and, late last month, Bar Counsel took the unusual step of seeking to stop Lewis from practicing law while the cases are pending. (The court has not yet ruled on that request.)

Lewis has been a member of the Maryland Bar since June 1965. He has appeared in television commercials inviting people to call the “Lewis Law Line,” which is also his firm’s website address.

Steven A. Allen, Lewis’ lawyer, said he recalled Lewis testifying he had between 300 and 350 cases open at the time he was being investigated. Allen, a member at Pessin Katz Law P.A. in Towson, said Lewis works with another lawyer and a paralegal and there is a “rhythm” to the small, personal injury lawsuits that make up most of the firm’s caseload. Allen described Lewis’ work as a “meat and potatoes practice.”

“It benefits the clients because without a lawyer, an insurance company would kick these people to the curb,” Allen said.

But Allen acknowledged the volume of cases, be it 300 or 800, could have affected Lewis’ work. “Your attention gets divided when you’re very, very busy and people make mistakes when they are busy,” Allen said.

No right number

Patricia A. Yevics, director of law office management assistance at the Maryland State Bar Association, said there is no “right number” of cases a small firm should handle. Yevics advises lawyers hanging their own shingle to formalize their client-intake procedures when they start out because there is no time once work begins to pile up.

“You prepare for success and prepare for these times when you are overwhelmed,” said Yevics, adding she was not commenting specifically on Lewis’ situation.

Client intake is just part of case management, which at its heart is a way of making sure that a lawyer stays on top of all the matters he or she is handling, clients are kept up to date and deadlines are met.

“You have to have a case management system unless you enjoy malpractice,” said Bratt, who has been a solo practitioner for about five months. At his previous firm, he said, he had at most 120 open cases at once.

“If he’s running 800 cases with one guy, I can’t think that’s possible,” he said. “There’s only 365 days a year.”

Jason D. Levy’s downtown Baltimore firm consists of himself and a paralegal. He estimates his case limit would be 200. And that would be pushing it.

“If you run a tight ship and a good business, technology can enable you to handle a lot more because it provides organization,” he said.

But both Bratt and Levy said no matter the quantity of cases, the quality of representation cannot be sacrificed.

“To give personal service to all of these clients is a tall order,” Levy said.

Snyder, the Rockville solo, said a lawyer needs time for depositions, reviewing medical bills and police reports and negotiating settlements, among other tasks.

“To do this right, it takes a lot of preparation,” he said. “I’d love to have [800] cases but I wouldn’t be able to represent them well.”

Perhaps few Baltimore-area lawyers can relate to Lewis’ practice as well as Stephen L. Miles, who also gained wide exposure for his personal injury practice through television commercials. (Miles’ catchphrase was “Let’s talk about it.”)

“Eight hundred cases open is a lot,” Miles said. “On its face, it draws your attention.”

In his firm’s heyday, Miles said, he had 60 employees, 50 of whom were paralegals/secretaries. A highly competent paralegal back then would handle between 100 and 125 cases at a time, he said.

These days, Miles’ practice consists of himself and a paralegal who handle about 60 cases at a time. As with the other personal injury lawyers interviewed, Miles puts an emphasis on customer service, never letting more than three weeks go by without communicating with a client.

“It keeps the client happy and prevents me from being lazy,” Miles said.

But Miles said the size of Lewis’ caseload requires a bit more context, including what case management system is used, what percentage of Lewis’ cases are workers’ compensation (which involve a lot of monitoring) and how many of his cases were referred to other lawyers for trial.

The MSBA’s Yevics said some practitioners are afraid to ask for help, or to send clients to another attorney.

“Nobody wants to turn business away,” she said, “but if you feel it’s necessary, you might want to refer it out.”