Tag: articlingstudents

Categories
Mental Health and Work/Life Balance

Sh*t My Partners Told Me

Crowded highway.
Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi at Pexels

In some law firms there is the ‘Go Big or Go Home’ faction (and by “Home” I mean to a firm where lawyers work reasonable hours and people care about each other and their physical and mental health).   

For this faction, it is all about improving earnings and damn the lifestyle.

There is often another faction comprised of lawyers who want to make a decent living but who also want to have a happy life. In a firm where the ‘Go Big or Go Home” group are calling the shots, nobody cares what these lifestyle losers think, so I am also going to ignore them in this post.

read more about going big or going home “Sh*t My Partners Told Me”
Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

There’s No Accounting for Distaste

Fast food on table.
Photo by Sangeet Rao at Pexels.

When I started practicing law, I joined a firm which had one exceptionally large client and very many small clients.

The large client needed help with interesting transactions, sophisticated corporate reorganizations, financings with lots of zeros, and creative corporate structures. Large files with large billings.

The smaller clients brought simpler work such as incorporations, small business purchases, and simple shareholders agreements. Small files with small billings.

read more about deciding what type of clients you like working for “There’s No Accounting for Distaste”
Categories
Mentoring

Lawyers Whining About Mentoring

Meeting between two women.
Photo by Rodnae Productions at Pexels.

Those of us who hang out with lawyers know that there may be some wine involved, but more often, there will just be whining.

Lawyers complain about many and varied things, such as how hard they work, the stress, their demanding clients, their Associates, and their Partners. The list of gripes goes on and on. In my retirement, I have learned to tune most of them out. However, recently a rising crescendo of complaints from young lawyers about the scarcity of good mentoring has risen above the usual cacophony of complaints and careened into my consciousness.

read more about lawyers complaining about mentoring “Lawyers Whining About Mentoring”
Categories
Law Firm Management

Finders v. Grinders

Neon sign which says "Cocktails"
Photo by Luciann Photography at Pexels.

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.)  

read more about client lawyers “Finders v. Grinders”
Categories
The Practice of Law

Justice vs. The Golden Rule

Gold Tutankhamun Statue
Photo by Pixabay at Pexels.

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.

read more about the tension between justice and the golden rule “Justice vs. The Golden Rule”
Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

You may be Incompetent, but Potential Clients Don’t Know That

Phone screen with the word "Error" on it.
Photo by Polina Zimmerman at Pexels.

“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.

read more about Clients assuming competence “You may be Incompetent, but Potential Clients Don’t Know That”
Categories
Fluff

Chutzpah

Confident looking man wearing sunglasses.
Photo by Chloe at Pexels.

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.

read more about chutzpah in the legal profession “Chutzpah”
Categories
Firm Culture

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Patio cafe in a garden at night under a bright light.
Photo by Meruyert Gonullu at Pexels.

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.

read more about partners who hide in law firms “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”
Categories
The Practice of Law

Ten Days to Close

Business people attending a meeting in a boardroom.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichen at Pexels.

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.

read more about how to pull off the impossible “Ten Days to Close”
Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

I Want My Parents Dead

Young girl crying.
Photo by Courtney Stephens at Pexels.

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.”

read more about listening instead of speaking “I Want My Parents Dead”