Categories
The Practice of Law

Reflections on M&A, Musical Chairs, and Mental Health

People of my vintage remember playing musical chairs at birthday parties, back before the days when money was so plentiful that it seemed to be important to impress the neighbours by hiring clowns and musicians or renting bouncy castles to entertain five-year-olds.

For those of you who did not have the pleasure of being pushed off of a chair by some mean kid who had fifty pounds on you, the idea was that music would be played while the children would circle a number of chairs that was always one fewer than the number of kids marching around them.

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Gratitude and The Appreciation Deficit

“I am happy because I’m grateful. I choose to be grateful. That gratitude allows me to be happy.”

~ Will Arnett

The other day I received a private message from a lawyer who I have never met in person. She expressed her appreciation for my contributions to the profession in my retirement and did so in a manner that was warm and sincere. I practically blushed when I read it.  She made my day.

Categories
The Practice of Law

Be Wrong, Confidently!

I came across a lawyer the other day who makes mistakes in his communications with clients and the other side. None of the errors will likely land him in too much trouble. They may even be excusable based on the theory that spending too much time trying to be ‘perfect’ is unhealthy and expensive for clients who are being billed based on the amount of time spent on the matter. But they are mistakes nonetheless, and they could all be caught with a bit more thought and proof-reading.

Categories
Law Students and Young Lawyers

Living in Different Worlds

I believe that lawyers should not compete based on price. I tell this to my mentees, and sometimes the response is, “that is easy for you to say from a cruise ship in the Pacific. I’m struggling to get files in the door and pay my rent.”

I also think that new lawyers should avoid practicing in areas that have become commodities and are particularly fee sensitive, such as residential real estate. My young friends tell me that they have to get cash in the door and that doing some real estate files is the best way to do it.

Categories
Mentoring

Users and Mentors

This is an abridged version of one of my first posts from several years ago.

Supervising lawyers fall into two groups. 

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Emily Two – A Tale about Sun Visors, Money, and Ego

When automobile manufacturers first put vanity mirrors on sun visors, they only put them on the passenger side. Their reasoning was that the passenger was usually a woman who had makeup to apply. The car was being driven by a man and men did not wear makeup.

Why do you figure that the manufacturers eventually started putting vanity mirrors over the driver’s seat? Did they come to believe that men also like to look at themselves in the mirror? Or was it that they suddenly discovered that women also drive cars?

Categories
Firm Culture

How Quickly My Good Idea Becomes Your Great Idea

Now and then I will tell a story about something that I did back in the day when my wife Maureen and I practiced at the same law firm. Typically my story involves a brilliant legal strategy that I developed, a big win, and a grateful client.

Occasionally Maureen will observe, “how quickly my good idea becomes your great idea.” Her point, I guess, is that she was the brilliant one and I just took her idea and ran with it. It could have happened that way. It was a long time ago and it really is not in my interest to remember the details that clearly.

Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Worrying For Godot

When I practiced law, I worried a lot.  I worried about making a mistake on my files. I worried that I was too busy.  I worried that I was not busy enough.

Categories
People I Met Practicing Law

Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Seven: The Supervising Lawyer

This is the last in a series about the questions which Articling Students and new Associates should figure out about their firms when deciding whether to stay there over the long-term.

This time, I will speak about supervising lawyers (“SL”).

Categories
Law Firm Management

Grilled Cheese, Please

There is a restaurant in Lakefield, Ontario called the Canoe & Paddle. On their regular menu is a panini called the “Ultimate Grilled Cheese” which comes with smoked bacon, cheddar, asiago, tomato, and garlic butter.

On their Kids & Seniors menu they offer a grilled cheese sandwich for which the ingredients are listed as “white loaf, cheddar.” They call this the “Grilled Cheese Please.”