Today’s Take: Clients Want Golden Retrievers Not Basset Hounds
I have a T-shirt that says “Dogs Are The New Kids,” and for me, they are: My three children are grown and are plane flights away, so my “kids” are now my four golden retrievers. And what great kids they are! They’re always happy to see me; they don’t talk back (well, one does), do drugs or alcohol; and, most importantly, are always optimistic about what life holds in store for them. They will happily spend hours and hours looking for the bird to retrieve and bring back—they just know they will succeed. In this regard, golden retrievers may be contrasted with basset hounds, whose very charm is that when you come home from work, no matter how bad your day went, they look like theirs was worse—so you have someone to commiserate with.
In law school, we were basset hounds. Our lives consisted of finding all the problems we could with the fact patterns or cases presented to us. This was called “issue-spotting”, and that’s what our professors wanted us to do. The more issues we could spot, the better grade we generally got. Thus, the more analytical—some would say cynical—and problem-finders we were, the better we did.
But that trait, while serving us well in law school, doesn’t serve us nearly as well in practice. Clients want problem-solvers, not problem-finders. They don’t want to hear all the reasons they can’t do what they want, or all the reasons they’re likely to lose the case; they want to hear how they can accomplish their objective, or what they need to do to have the best chance to win the lawsuit.
According to some continuing education courses I recently took, there are studies that show that lawyers who are optimistic tend to do better, be happier, and have more successful practices. Why? Because like golden retrievers they believe they will find solutions to their clients’ problems—and they usually do. Because they don’t dwell on everything that can go wrong, they tend to be more creative, more out-of-the-box, and, significantly, more persuasive. Sure, not everything will work out as planned, but that’s OK; they’ll just find a way around the next hurdle.
It’s hard to change one’s basic personality, I know. But still—try to be more like a golden retriever. Both you and your clients will be glad you did. Basset hounds—don’t take this personally, only professionally!
Today’s Taste: Since we’re on the subject of dogs, let’s have a glass of Dog Point Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011 ($22). Rated 90 points by Robert Parker, this New Zealand wine is medium-bodied and has hints of pink grapefruit, apples and orange blossoms, with crisp acid supporting the fruit and a long finish. Woof!
On Writs and Wine is the blog of ECJ’s Litigation Department, featuring our takes on a variety of litigation-related issues, plus a wine recommendation for your palate’s delight. Your feedback—on both the takes and the wine—is much appreciated. Enjoy!
