Lawyers aren’t royalty anymore. There are a lot of us in all shapes, sizes and colors and grades. Lots of schools–some accredited, some not, some which shouldn’t be. I think you need four basic traits–and you can acquire 3 of these if you don’t have them at birth—to be a lawyer: (i) smart/creative, (ii) ethical, (iii) aggressive and (iv) client-oriented.
If you get all four traits, your lawyer is worth his or her weight in gold.
Problem is, there are hardly any lawyers out there who fit the above description. And, sadly, I would never refer my firm’s clients to many of my own best friends with stellar credentials who lawyer for fine firms, or refer to their firms. Not personal–it’s clients. So I find close to zilch on all four traits or elements. Why? To the profession’s credit, smart/creative (No. 1) and ethical and by-the-book lawyers (No. 2) are a dime a dozen. And I am not knocking them. We need them. But so what? What a low standard: smart and ethical! That enough? Give me those people and please add Aggressive (No. 3…and that does not mean unpleasant; it means aggressive–look it up) and Genuinely Client-Oriented (No. 4). I would be happy if I could find 30.
But such lawyers are incredibly rare. Re: “Aggressive” (No. 3), it’s partly because so many people who go to law school are wimpy by nature–but mainly because the law profession has become so bogged down in bogus and misused lawyer-centric concepts like “professionalism” and “work-life balance” and the “clubbiness” thing. Both concepts make life easier for lawyers when client service in the law and other professions are intolerably low. Both undermine the development of Geniunely Client-Oriented lawyers (No. 4).
It’s hard for me to believe I am writing this. However, in 25 years of working in DC, and then all over the U.S and Europe, advising on, preventing and trying disputes in federal courts and arbitrations, and doing battle with regulatory agenices, I see an awful pattern. Clients are rarely if ever first. The lawyer-oriented concepts of professionalism (a 95% useless “niceness” I’ve been writing about for 15 years) and work-life balance (a new topic which I have not written about because it obvious; W-LB has no few sane supporters who care about clients) have been used over and over idea to defend bad lawyering and bad client service. I see it when a lawyer in another firm wants a 90-day extension to respond to discovery which can be done in 14 days, or the same lawyer has a well-known firm which doesn’t communicate or respond to their own clients (a lot of our firm’s adversaries are obviously disrespcted by their own clients).
Are there “good lawyers” out there who care enough about clients and the profession to put these things first and their own comfort second?