Donald Trump (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty)
Tuesday night was yuge, no getting around it. Perhaps you’re still crying in your beer or taking to the streets to demand, er, something or other — a new election with a different candidate? — or perhaps you’re going on about your life (or have discovered your boss expects you to go on about your life). Regardless, looking back on the election now that a couple of days have passed, there are takeaways that could be useful to just about anyone, particularly my fellow SmallLaw practitioners tasked with getting clients, running a law practice, and producing top-notch legal work.
- From here to there may be shorter than you think. Here might be a struggling solo practitioner stuck between making enough to pay the rent but not quite making enough to afford any help, and there might be heading up a 20-attorney law firm. If a guy can go from reality TV to President of the United States in less than two years, maybe you can go from here to there in four years. It can happen. Start planning.
- Actions speak louder than words. Survey after survey showed Clinton in the lead, yet Trump was drawing thousands of people at his rallies. In retrospect, shouldn’t that have been a sign something was afoot? Similarly, are your clients telling you good things to your face but then not coming to you every time an employee situation comes up or a contract needs tweaking? Do you no longer get referrals from a longtime client? Maybe it’s time to do a top-to-bottom assessment of how your practice is serving the client.
- Pay attention to outliers. The LA Times poll was widely mocked yet turned out to be the most accurate. If you’re at a luncheon and folks start talking about Crazy Joe in the burbs who has had this ludicrous practice for the past 30 years, maybe spending an afternoon talking to Crazy Joe would be a good time investment, just because anyone named Crazy Joe is doing things differently. Maybe Crazy Joe is the only sane one around.
- Never underestimate your opponent. I got this one from Doc Rivers. In my field of corporate law, we’re not supposed to think of the people on the other side of the table as “opponents”, but occasionally a negotiation will become a battle of wits and wills more intense than any cage match. Don’t think just because you’re older or went to a better school or are better-looking than the other person that you’re going to coast.
- Marketing efforts should be readily identifiable as belonging to you. Who didn’t think the red Make America Great Again hats were a joke? He wore one every time he made a television appearance (probably radio, too). It was nuts and largely unprecedented, but everyone knew the guy wearing the hat was running for president. They may not have known Bobby Jindal was running, but they knew the guy wearing the hat was running, and they knew he was running on an “America first” platform. Whatever you do for your marketing, make sure when people see it, they immediately know it’s you. And don’t underestimate a good slogan.
- Avoid groupthink. The NY Times kept a running probability poll, and in the month prior to the election, Trump was never higher than 20% and was often in single digits. The NY Times had determined these numbers by taking a public poll in its newsroom, asking by a show of hands who was voting for whom, and then extrapolating this data. This is, of course, a joke. I don’t actually know how the NY Times arrived at these clearly delusional numbers, but I imagine there was a fair amount of “groupthink” involved. The takeaway is, as easy as it is to surround yourself with like-minded people, make an effort to maintain relationships with people different from yourself. This will help with perspective and perhaps even with figuring out ways to appeal to potential clients.
- Surround yourself with family. Trump always brought his family up on stage with him. Not just his spouse — all politicians do that — but the whole clan: all his kids, their spouses, and their children. How do you think that looked to families watching from their living room? In fact, the kids seemed to have a substantial role in his campaign, effectively firing one of the campaign managers. If you’re a workaholic like a lot of us, maybe try to have your family near you. Partner with your attorney spouse. Give your ne’er do well brother-in-law a job in the mailroom. A potential client who runs a family business might like to see that when he visits your office.
- Abstinence. If you’re the type of person who can’t walk two blocks without saying or doing something horribly offensive, for God’s sake at least don’t drink alcohol or do drugs. Can you imagine how much worse the stories would be if this guy drank too?
- It helps to have a multi-millionaire for a dad. Don’t settle for just a millionaire dad. You need to hold out for a multi-millionaire dad, who is happy to “loan” out a few million to help you get started. Apparently you can do a lot with a few million.
- Success is not guaranteed. But even that won’t guarantee success. Trump’s older brother Fred started out even closer to home plate than the Donald: he had his father’s name and was “the chosen one.” But he couldn’t take the pressure and basically drank himself to death, dying at 42. You still have to rise to the challenge. (Of course, I could have applied this to some in Clinton’s camp who believed it was her “turn.”)
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That’s all I have for this week. You are now free to go back to crying in your beer and posting on Facebook.
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 securities matters for startups, large and small businesses, private equity funds, and investors in each, and also has a number of non-profit clients. You can reach Gary by email at [email protected].