Small Law Firms

Use These Words, Not Those Words

As lawyers, whether we’re transactional lawyers or litigators, we certainly know the importance of words.

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As lawyers, whether we’re transactional lawyers or litigators, we certainly know the importance of words. In law school, using the right words isn’t nearly as important as it is when you get out into the actual big bad world of practicing law (unless maybe you were on a journal, though a lot of us practicing attorneys regularly write and review articles, and for a lot longer than a year or two). When a party has assembled an army of lawyers ready to take action over a certain word that was in a contract, you learn pretty quickly how much using the right word matters. Or when your client’s entire business model depends on the wording of a certain statute (most often a tax statute). The real world tends to be a much more harsh effective teacher than the ivory tower world of exam hypotheticals.

But of course there are other, more mundane occasions in which the wording has to be just right. For example, sometimes you need to convey to a client that a certain negotiation or court proceeding was lost, but you need to do it in such a way the client doesn’t blow a gasket. There’s a big difference between “we lost,” and “despite an almost Herculean effort, the circumstances were not able to yield the desired result,” the latter of which would probably make a client read it a couple of times before saying to herself, “I think he’s saying we lost.”

Similarly, “I can’t believe you did that, you [expletive]” sounds kind of unprofessional, whereas, “there might have been a different way to handle that” is a more gentle way of telling the person they just made a mess of things.

And it works in other situations as well. People often talk to me about running, and they’ll say something like they “have to run 5 miles tomorrow morning.” I’ll invariably respond with, don’t you mean you “get” to run 5 miles tomorrow morning? (Hey, it’s a privilege!) One small word change, different outlook.

My point is, a more positive demeanor — which many of us could use — could be one simple word change away. Here are some suggestions as you go about trying to brighten your day. Feel free to steal/borrow with abandon.

Instead of a “problem,” it’s an “opportunity for success.” (See? Doesn’t that sound so much better?) And instead of telling yourself you’ve hit a “roadblock,” just say you’ve encountered a “challenge.”

You’re not in the midst of an “argument,” it’s a really a “spirited discussion.”

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As opposed to complaining about your “all-nighter,” be happy about your “successful commute avoidance.”

Don’t carp about your “dead phone battery,” be grateful for your “unplanned live-action human interaction opportunity,” or, if it happened on the subway, maybe your “unexpected meditation opening.”

Why call him your “high-priced white-collar defense attorney,” when you can just call him “Matt Kaiser”?

Everyone knows what you’re talking about, so “got stuck in a meeting” can be simplified to “Facebook.”

If you’re in SmallLaw, go ahead and call your “home” your “office” (to make your practice sound more sophisticated) and if you’re in Biglaw, you can call your “office” your “home” (to make believe you have a life).

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You don’t want everyone to know your financial business, so instead of telling people you “just had a client unexpectedly pay three months of back bills at once,” you can say you just “had an orgasm.”

“Boredom” sounds so, well, boring. But “excitement vacuum,” wow! Almost sounds exciting.

Instead of always referring to your “wasted three years,” just call it “law school.” If some non-lawyers are around, they might even respect that!

“Rejection” (as in by a potential client, not by an out-of-your-league person you met in a bar) is better referred to as “found extra article-writing time” (because there are always articles that have to be finished).

“Terrible client” is better termed a “recurring learning opportunity,” whereas “pseudo-learning opportunity” is too cumbersome, so just use “CLE.”

In the SmallLaw world, we shorten “high-pressure salesperson” to “Avvo guy.”

Instead of complaining about your “know-it-all millennial intern,” be grateful for the “idiotic advice service” you are being provided.

Tell a client you are using your “secret legal research tool,” as opposed to “Google.”

And last but not least, if you just can’t think of the right word, no matter how hard you try, then go with “[silence].” Trust me, it works more often than not!

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 Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.

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