Legalviews Personal

January often makes us look at the year past, and resolve to do things better. But vague thinking in January usually leads nowhere. A few very specific corrections usually work better, if they closely apply to a law firm or law office.

Here are seven axioms which have been widely adopted for a very long time. Pick three of them for your law practice!

1. We feel sickness keenly, but never notice healthiness. This old English saying reminds us that when an organization or a system works, its good results seem inevitable, even automatic. But when some good practice shrivels up and blows away it is forgotten, and the resulting problems seem mysterious. That is because when we succeeded, we were not familiar with why we succeeded.

2. Seven may be company, but nine are confusion. This old English saying is confirmed by studies of law firm organization. A law firm which grows to over 8 lawyers becomes different in kind. Six or seven lawyers who get on and frequently have coffee or lunch together, may not need many rules, regulations, formal meetings, or actual training. After growth beyond that, the lawyers do not think to formalize anything, until confusion and failure have occurred too often.

3. Opening a shop is easy; what is hard is keeping it open. This old Chinese saying reminds us that existing clients are not enough; we constantly need some new ones. And we need to know why we are losing old clients or not attracting many new ones.

4. Bad workers do the thing first, then seek advice. This old Hebrew saying explains a number of nasty surprises. Some people want to appear all-knowing and so do not ask advice until their error cannot be concealed any longer. Others are short-sighted. Others leave tasks undone until the last minute. Others think that apologizing is less work than seeking advice or confirmation and waiting for it. In some firms, the latter may seem true.

5. Don’t throw away your old shoes until you have new ones. This old Dutch saying sounds obvious. But the federal government removed its old salary payment computer program before really trying out the new Phoenix one. And some cities cancel bus routes years before the new L.R.T. line actually comes into regular service. New ideas tempt amateurs, and what is tried and true is now unfashionable.

6. When shepherds quarrel, the wolf grows fat. This old German saying reminds us that internal cooperation and willingness to help each other produce effects stronger than the best of us. But a large group of able people who see each other as a threat, can be the most useless organization in town.

7. One who serves everybody is paid by nobody. This old English saying points out that people want tasks done for the common good, but are too busy to do any of them themselves. And if those tasks are added to some lawyer’s existing tasks, he or she will get no real credit for doing them, especially if pay is based on billings or bringing in new clients. The person so tasked will then either neglect those tasks, or change law firms.

– Hon. J.E. Côté

JANUARY REVIEW