The post tells the story about a young lawyer who missed an opportunity to learn something, and instead used the law and procedure to help a seasoned lawyer understand more fully why lawyers continue to find themselves the butt of jokes and disrespected by society. Read the post. It's a great story for those just out of school, and those who have been around a while.
Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. Read his free ebook The Truth About Hiring A Criminal Defense Lawyer. Please visit www.tannebaumweiss.com
3 comments:
I'm a young lawyer running my own practice, and in fairness to all of us young solos out there, we're not all that clueless.
The first thing I understood as I talked to my first client was that I was talking to a real person with real problems. To me, if you don't understand that, then you don't understand what it means to be someone's lawyer. I honestly don't care if you've been practicing for 5 minutes or 50 years, if you can't see your client as a person with a person's problems, then you have no business being a lawyer.
David,
There are plenty of good young lawyers out there who understand that practicing law is as much about representing clients, as it is about how we conduct ourselves with opposing counsel.
Some just don't understand that the two are not mutually exclusive.
Best of luck.
David:
First, thanks for reading my post.
Second, you are absolutely correct that there are a great number of young lawyers out there who, except for experience, have all the tools it takes to be outstanding lawyers. I just happened to run into one who (1) didn't know what the hell she was doing, (2) was ridiculously arrogant about the whole thing, and (3) did not appear to be equipped to represent a dog, let alone a person in need of help.
You hit the nail on the head when you wrote: "If you can't see your client as a person with a person's problems, then you have no business being a lawyer." You obviously get it. The lawyer about whom I wrote didn't.
Good luck with your practice. It sounds like your clients are in good hands.
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