“I’m so old, I don’t buy green bananas anymore.”
~ Lou Holtz
From my 71-year-old vantage point, I have come to realize that our perspective on many issues is often affected by where we are on our journey through life.
Tag: lawyers
Back when law was primarily a profession, and only incidentally a business, if you were not invited to become a partner in your law firm after seven years or so, you were expected to hang your head in shame and slink out of the firm. The system was called “Up or Out.” You either graduated to partnership, or you left the firm.
My good friend Felicity had a problem. Her relatives were making comments about how she takes care of her elderly father, who I will call Allan. She gave me the example of an aunt who asked, “Why is Allan still driving?” and expressed her opinion that Allan is too old and ill to be driving. She said it in a way that implied it was Felicity’s fault.
Some of you will know the origin of the title of this article. The rest of you will have to look it up.
These famous words convey the notion that when you are facing an existential crisis, you must devote yourself completely to the task of surviving. Other priorities become irrelevant.
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Who Are You Again?
My partner Sid was great at remembering names and faces. At one networking event, 15 people introduced themselves, spoke about their area of specialty, and shared something about their personal lives. After everyone had spoken, Sid said something like, “Let’s see if I have got this right,” and then repeated the details that everyone had provided. Sid was a great rainmaker.
Frank Ramos, a Miami litigation lawyer, writes intelligently on LinkedIn. Recently, he posted that potential legal clients are moving away from using Google searches, and toward AI, to find lawyers. His conclusion is that lawyers should stop worrying about SEO and start writing intelligent commentary so that AI will identify them as an expert and recommend them.
An American poet and critic named James Russell Lowell once said, “The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.” He forgot someone: Big Law lawyers.
Allow me to elaborate.
Newly qualified lawyers are not known for being mature, confident, well-rounded, and psychologically sound. And why should we expect them to be? Most of them are young, having just emerged from years of student life. Few have had a significant prior career. They have likely graduated, with substantial debt, from schools that have not adequately trained them to practice law.
Back when I was practicing law, I was so clued out about physical work that I thought that Manual Labour was the President of Mexico. After I became a lawyer, the only work that I did with my hands was typing. For many years I was thoughtful, creative, and strategic. I hired people to do the physical work that I needed done, so that I could devote myself to what I arrogantly thought were more sophisticated pursuits.
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Flawed Young Lawyers Meet AI
Vicky was my associate many years ago. She was bright and ambitious. She wanted to learn and she worked hard. If you taught Vicky how to do something once, she would get it right every time after that.