My seven year old loves to play soccer. Before every game and practice I give the same advice, hoping that maybe a little of it will sink in: Have fun, be a good sport and do your best. It's not rocket science, but hey, I'm doing the best I can. What could be more basic than that, right?
These same basic principles also apply to analyzing whether or not someone is a good attorney. I'm probably losing you with that comment so read on.
Have Fun:
Picture the young soccer player out on the field, whose heart just isn't in it, and he'd rather be somewhere else. He'd rather be picking the grass and is only playing because his mom and dad made him do it. Or he's the kid that doesn't feel any joy from being on a team because they aren't the best one there.
Similarly, you can easily tell the difference between lawyers who love what they do, and those that do not. Lawyers that are miserable practicing law will definitely show it in how they work for you. Their efforts will generally be more minimalist--what needs to be done will get done, and that's about it.
There is not much sadder to me than seeing an attorney at the Daley Center or wherever who is trapped in their job. They hate what they do, but now they are in their 40's with a wife, some kids and no experience doing anything else. They have no choice but to go through the motions of their job while day-dreaming about the opportunities that have passed them by.
On the other hand, lawyers who enjoy using their knowledge and experience to help people, tend to go the distance and then some for their clients. Calls get returned more promptly; questions are answered more thoroughly; cases are handled with more creative spirit rather than in a cookie-cutter way.
Be a Good Sport:
As the saying goes, you can't buy a good name. Reputation is everything, whether it's in a sports league or in your professional community. And once you've damaged your reputation, it can follow you into your future. If a child is unkind to his fellow players--either those on his team or the opposing team--he is telling something about his character. And this can impact how fellow players and organizations treat him.
So too with lawyers... It may seem like the legal profession is huge, but it is actually a fairly small community, especially in the collar counties. Information travels fast, especially these days, and once a lawyer sullies his or her reputation, that fact will spread and stick.
A good reputation is key in serving clients properly. You don't want a lawyer representing you, who the judges and other lawyers know is sneaky or nasty or not kind. Anything that lawyer says and does is then suspect, and not viewed with an open mind.
Do Your Best:
Young soccer players can get tired, and may not want to always give 100% of their efforts every game. But it may surprise you that many attorneys also don't give their full creative efforts every time in every case.
Sometimes lawyers have prejudged the likely outcome of a case, so they don't put all their energy into overcoming the odds. Or sometimes lawyers have handled many cases that are similar, and so they just go on autopilot handling your case.
Whatever the reason, it's no excuse. Just as I want my child to try his best, lawyers need to do the same with each and every case. No two fact situations are exactly the same, and no two cases should be carbon copies of each other. That extra bit of effort could be exactly what turns a case around in your favor. And the truth is that when a lawyer loses, but the client knows that they gave a great effort, the client isn't mad. However, when a lawyer half-asses their way through a case and the case goes south, the client starts thinking legal malpractice lawsuit.
Now I of course know my son and can tell right away when he's straying from any of these three pieces of advice. When hiring an attorney you can't tell these things, but it's worth thinking about. I can't fire my child if he ignores this advice, but if you see that your attorney is showing these problems then it's probably time to look for new representation.
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Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicagos-real-law-blog/2011/06/good-lawyer-good-kid-soccer-player.html
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