Old People

Looking Back On A 'Mediocre' Career

At whatever stage in our careers that we may be, practicing law is not for the faint of heart.

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Several of my dinosaur lawyer colleagues are retiring, throwing in the towel, saying “Hasta la vista, baby,” singing Johnny Paycheck’s song, taking the job and shoving it. Do I hear cheers, signs of relief, applause from younger lawyers? Thank goodness, they’re thinking, what took so long? We didn’t think they would ever leave.

One friend, for whom seventy is in the rearview mirror, is done. We’ve known each other for almost thirty-five years. A partner at a midsize firm (although the definition of midsize is open to debate these days) he’s tired of billing, tired of clients, tired of cases where he’s the only lawyer on his side of the table, facing a phalanx of opposing lawyers. He can’t justify, he said, billing his clients for similar staffing. Amen to that.

The other lawyer, soon to join the retired ranks, is counting the days, actually they both are, but neither has yet announced publicly their intentions. She was told that she was “on the downside of a mediocre career.” Whoa, thank you for sharing. In whose eyes has her life as a lawyer been mediocre? And what does “mediocre” mean in the context of a lawyering career?

So, dinosaurs, looking back on your individual careers, how would you describe your career? Mediocre? What does that even mean? Does “mediocre” mean that you were never named as a super lawyer, and do ninety-five percent or more of clients even care about that? Does “mediocre” mean that you were never recognized through various awards by your peers? Does “mediocre” mean that you weren’t the highest earning lawyer? Does “mediocre” mean that you didn’t have flacks, sorry, marketing directors, to toot your horns and corral business? Does “mediocre” mean that you didn’t do a good enough job for your clients because you didn’t look under every rock and bill accordingly?

At the end of a career, do any of those indicia really matter? Are any of those indicia going to be engraved on your tombstone? After the obituary details are published and read, is anyone going to remember those awards? Maybe, maybe not, but I’m betting, given our short memories for anything that doesn’t involve us personally. that the answer is no.

Most of us haven’t been in Biglaw, or if we have, we’ve ditched it for the independence of solo or small firm practice. Most of us haven’t been on the bench or in academia. Most of us did not graduate from an elite law school, did not graduate in the top ten in our class, were not on law review or other resume highlights.

We’ve been the “foot soldiers,” the “blue-collar” lawyers, so to speak. We haven’t represented the Fortune 100 or even the Fortune 1000; we haven’t been in the media, whether as subject or object of attention. We just practiced law, helping those who needed our help, who needed a voice when theirs was stilled for whatever reason. We did what we could to solve their problems, to resolve issues and to counsel them. Sometimes, it wasn’t a legal question per se, but the client’s need for a sounding board, a “what do you think,” and maybe a little legal knowledge thrown in there on an “as needed” basis.

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There are so many unsung heroes in our profession, people who will never grace the cover of a bar publication, let alone one of general circulation. People who will never be given a shout out or recognition of their achievements. People who will never be super duper lawyers or any other glorification. People who just represent clients and get the job done for them so that the clients can go forward.

I think that for these two lawyers as well as many other dinosaur lawyers approaching the ends of their legal careers, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, contributions they made on behalf of individual clients and the profession at large need to be celebrated. These two friends have almost eighty (not a typo) years in practice, and that is something to be praised, not only for length, but for endurance. As we all know, at whatever stage in our careers that we may be, practicing law is not for the faint of heart. It takes fortitude, courage, lots and lots of hard work, and the ability to roll with the punches, from wherever they come from, be they clients, opposing counsel, cringeworthy bench slaps. We’ve all had them.

I haven’t seen the movie Dunkirk yet, but my readings in that period in British history is that it was just as much the flotilla of small fishing boats, yachts, pleasure craft, as well as troop destroyers, that made the difference in evacuating hundreds of thousands of soldiers stranded on the French beaches. Were those varied small craft “mediocre?” Were the contributions that these small craft made any less important than the larger vessels? Did they contribute any less to the successful evacuation efforts of more than three hundred thousand soldiers? I think not.

I think we need to recast the careers of dinosaur lawyers. We didn’t have marketing classes in law school; we’re often slow to adapt to technological changes that now litter the professional landscape. We practiced in a “kinder, gentler” time where in person relationships mattered more than they do today, and that may be due to the fact that technology such as email, smartphones, internet and social media didn’t exist, so the only way to connect was in person. Excuses? No. Realities? Yes.

It’s a different world today, and as dinosaur lawyers retire, attention should be paid to the contributions of purportedly “mediocre” lawyers. I’ve heard it said that the next generation writes the epitaph for the previous one. So, millennials, start writing.

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old lady lawyer elderly woman grandmother grandma laptop computerJill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.

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