In-House Counsel

Why It's Always Your Fault

Lawyers need to understand that everything is their fault.

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editing revision revise edit redline blackline markupAges ago, I was a high school debater.

If we lost, a coach blamed us: “You lost. It’s your fault.”

“How can it be our fault? We made all the arguments. We said everything we should have said. That silly judge just voted against us.”

“It’s your fault because in a round of debate, you have one job in the world: Convince the guy who’s holding the ballot that you won. If the guy with the ballot says that you lost, then it’s your fault. You were supposed to win.”

That’s not bad advice.

Suppose I’m editing something.

I write in the margin: “I can’t edit this, because I don’t know what it’s supposed to mean. Please revise.”

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You call: “I know just what that means. Let me explain it to you….”

No.

The idea isn’t to have you explain it to me. That’s easy.

The idea is to have you put some words on the page that convey your meaning. So that a reader can understand it.

That’s hard, but it’s the task. Of course you can explain it to me, but the task isn’t to explain it to me orally. And the task surely isn’t to have me listen to your oral explanation and then for me to write it up. That’s not the goal, and it doesn’t teach you anything.

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Don’t explain it: Just revise it so that it’s comprehensible.

In a sense, whenever you write anything, you become responsible for the reader. If the reader doesn’t understand it, it’s your fault — because your task was to convey information to the reader. If the reader doesn’t understand, then you should try again.

It’s the same with speaking: You’re responsible for the listener. If the listener falls asleep, then you should have made the talk more interesting.

It’s not the other guy’s fault; it’s your fault.

Suppose the client is unhappy. Whose fault is it?

It’s your fault.

Your job is to make the client happy. If the client is not happy, then you’ve failed in your job. Next time, do your job right: Make the client happy.

I understand that none of this is fair. You tell me that you’re a great writer, and a fascinating speaker, and the client could never be pleased.

I don’t want to hear about it.

We live in a service profession.

In a service profession, the customer is always right.

The reader understands only what the reader understands. The listener stays awake only for as long as she stays awake. And the client is impressed only when the client is impressed.

You can’t pass the blame.

If you lose, it’s your fault. Because your job was to win.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now responsible for litigation and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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