Fashion, Small Law Firms

Dress Like A Lawyer

Sometimes getting clients is as easy as looking the part. You should always be dressed like a lawyer.

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I was a month or so into my Biglaw career when I was sent on a due diligence trip to a client’s file storage site to review assignment clauses. In early fall, it was still pretty warm in Atlanta, and I imagined myself in a hot, musty warehouse pulling out dusty files. (It turned out not to be exactly that, but it was close.) I asked the partner, “Hey, if I’m going to be spending all day tomorrow in a warehouse, how should I dress?” The answer came back: “Dress like a lawyer.”

No need to explain that. Suit. Tie. Socks. Dress shoes. (Newsflash for the newbies: this is a conservative profession. Might as well get used to it.)

Now 10 years later, I couldn’t agree with the partner more. Maybe 80% of life is showing up, but an additional 10% is showing up looking the part.

Though in my office it’s just me and my intern (for now), I wear a suit every single day. When you’re in SmallLaw, people tend to assume you’re putting in a few hours and then heading off to the gym the rest of the day. What if I ran into an important contact on the street and was in jeans and a t-shirt? I’m not trying to reinforce the stereotype of SmallLaw being for people who weren’t serious enough for Biglaw. I want everyone I meet to refer clients to me, and I’m not sure I would be front and center in someone’s mind if every time (or the only time) they saw me I was dressed like a college student.

Sometimes at startup events I’ll see lawyers who are clearly trying to be what their — or at least somebody’s — idea of a “startup lawyer” is. Trying too hard, it seems to me. They’ll be decked out in designer jeans and fancy blazers, looking like they just stepped out of a fashion shoot. This is you being casual? I don’t know about their clients, but my startup clients wear jeans because they want to be comfortable, not because they’re trying to impress someone. (And they tend to favor Dickies, not D&G.)

Do we even know for certain that clients want their lawyers to dress like them? Does a client who favors shorts and flip-flops really want her lawyer to show up in shorts and flip-flops too? If I had to guess, I’d venture that clients would rather have their lawyers look like lawyers.

As I mentioned, I wear a suit every day, even when I’m visiting a WeWork and have to sit Indian-style (hold your fire: random people on Quora say the term is not racist) on an ottoman while advising clients or pitching prospective clients. No client has ever said anything. And no one at WeWork has ever called out, “Hey, who’s the tool in the suit?” (At least no one that didn’t already know me.) I also figure, what if I were there with a client and an in-person contract negotiation broke out, with counsel present, and the other lawyer’s wearing a suit and I’m not? If I were the client, I’d want my guy to look more professional than their guy.

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Besides, looking like a lawyer results in far more opportunities than walking around looking like a bookstore clerk on his day off. Last year, I was leaving a startup pitch event when someone chased me through the lobby. “You don’t look like everyone else. Are you a lawyer?” “Yep.” “I need someone to help my company with a $50 million capital raise. Can you do that?” “Sure.” “Let’s go somewhere and talk.” Sometimes it’s as easy as looking the part.

Gary J. Ross opened his own practice, Jackson Ross PLLC, in 2013 after several years in Biglaw and the federal government. Gary handles corporate and compliance matters for investment funds, small businesses, and non-profits, occasionally dabbling in litigation. You can reach Gary by email at [email protected].

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