I'm a lawyer, asking a lawyer.

I've been helping an out-of-state firm with a lawsuit. They haven't made an appearance yet. I had assumed they were planning to ask me to appear as local counsel.

Today, they asked me to review their draft pro hac papers, drafted by a lawyer that works for them (purlely a transactional lawyer, but admitted in-state), contemplating that he would be their local counsel sponsor.

I'm a little disappointed. But, hey -- they should go with the guy they trust, right? So I'm not offended. And maybe they'll even change their minds, when they get to know me better. Whatever.

But I'm trying to explain to them how absolutely WEIRD it is for me to review his draft pro hac papers. If he's going to be local counsel, looking over someone's draft papers for form is exactly his job.

What's the right metaphor to explain this to them? It's like hiring a carpenter to put an addition on your house, and then asking another carpenter to look over his plan for the simplest thing (what, a bookshelf?). If you're going to use him to put on the addition, why do you need a second opinion on his bookshelf blueprint, right?

Nah, that's not it. What's it like?