Let’s cut to the chase: Law firms compensate lawyers for two things: (i) fees billed for their own work; and (ii) fees billed for work that they introduce to the firm which is done by someone else. (In theory there are some other things that matter also, but in practice you cannot get rich by doing any of them.)
You would think that in a profession where people are the most valuable asset, employers would develop some expertise around human resources. And yet, most lawyers know squat about it. That is not surprising. Most H.R. professionals do not know much about practicing law.
I have written about the Golden Rule before, but it is so crucial to the functioning of our legal system that it is worth looking at again.
“You look like you don’t have a clue what you are doing,” said absolutely nobody the first time that they met their Dentist. Or their Surgeon. Or their Accountant.
One of the most shocking things that young lawyers in private practice learn is that they are required to sell themselves. After all, if they wanted to be salespeople, they probably would not have gone to law school in the first place.
A man murders his father and his mother and is prosecuted for both crimes. He is hauled up in front of the judge and pleads guilty. When it comes to sentencing, he begs for mercy because he is an orphan. That is the classic explanation of what constitutes chutzpah.
If you are looking for other examples of chutzpah, you may be able to find them in the legal profession.
There is nothing funny about child abuse, so I hesitate to tell this story. But there is a point to it, so please bear with me.
Back in the day when parents did not see anything wrong with occasionally giving their kids a smack, there was a very young boy who believed that if he shut his eyes tightly, no one could see him. When his father was angry, the boy would close his eyes and feel safe. When he got hit anyway, he was initially shocked. But eventually he learned that hiding did not make him safe.
One of my best clients was a partnership between two men who I will call Ken and Gordon.
Ken was the sales guy. Gordon was the strategic thinker and administrator. The company had offices in several Canadian cities and a few U.S. states. There were a good number of companies and trusts on the corporate chart.
Ken and Gordon owned the main company, which had made money for many years and was valuable. It was financed by bank loans secured by personal guarantees of the owners.
Many years ago when I was working 1,000 hours a week and my daughter was very young, I was trying to get her to eat an apple after a busy day at work. She was having none of it. Frustration levels were rising on both sides. Finally, with tears streaming down her face, she blurted out, “I want my parents dead.”
“Blue Sky Law” refers to securities regulation. The expression is said to have originated in Kansas and refers to hucksters who could sell ‘a piece of the blue sky’ to unsophisticated farmers.
Back when I was more impressed with Big Law than I am now, we were approached by a senior lawyer who I will call Jake who wanted to leave Big Law and join our medium-sized suburban wannabe downtown law firm.