Translation of eficaz

Your surroundings will ask a lot of questions and will try to find out more about your financial situation. They are all cowards and I would not listen to them. Listen to people that you really trust.
A good friend of mine. He works currently in NY but is a Swiss lawyer, excellent and very intelligent. Shall I ask him? OK, sounds great. Maybe we can add his words and expressions (from the law field) as well.
Fortunately the bay we anchored was very calm and the ship did not move at all, or at least one could not feel it. We prepared for dinner and went to the deck, where everybody else was sitting.