Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners

Pessimism Is Considered Prudence

Follow your passion! Be super optimistic all the time! Except not....

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Lawyers, as a whole, tend to be a negative bunch. Reserved, contrarian, and antagonistic. It’s just part of the job. “But it doesn’t have to be that way!” some new lawyers like to say. “I’m going to have a optimistic attitude about my career! I’m going to follow my passion!” This mindset likely comes from being told for years by an over-eager education system (and overbearing parents) that they are special snowflakes and just need to have a positive outlook on things and everything will turn out alright.

And some research studies would indicate that they may be partially right, except for one fine detail….

A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal had a story on research conducted on the upbeat brain:

Two research teams exploring the anatomy of expectations offer a new perspective on the power of a positive outlook. For the first time, scientists at New York University have mapped the upbeat brain — finding in a cluster of neurons the size of a martini olive the seed of a sunny outlook on life. At its core, the brain is built for optimism, their work suggests.

Far from deforming our view of the future, this penchant for life’s silver lining shapes our decisions about family, health, work and finances in surprisingly prudent ways, concluded economists at Duke University in a new study published in the Journal of Financial Economics.

So follow your passion! Be super optimistic all the time! Except not:

[T]hose who saw the future too brightly — people who in the survey overestimated their own likely lifespan by 20 years or more — behaved in just the opposite way, the researchers discovered.

Rather than save, they squandered. They postponed bill-paying. Instead of taking the long view, they barely looked past tomorrow. Statistically, they were more likely to be day traders. “Optimism is a little like red wine,” said Duke finance professor and study co-author Manju Puri. “In moderation, it is good for you; but no one would suggest you drink two bottles a day.”

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It’s okay to be mildly optimistic and have a can-do attitude. That’s healthy. It’s about having grit and a growth mindset, not about zealously following your passion. Passion can be blinding. It can lead you astray, addle your brain, and cloud your judgment. Optimism can make you overly confident in your position, ignorant of opposing facts, and reluctant to examine every aspect of an issue. None of which is valuable or desirable in the practice of law. Which is also the other telling takeaway from the research that was conducted:

All in all, Dr. Seligman said, optimists tend to do better in life than their talents alone might suggest.

Except lawyers.

Surveying law students at the University of Virginia, he found that pessimists got better grades, were more likely to make law review and, upon graduation, received better job offers. There was no scientific reason. “In law,” he said, “pessimism is considered prudence.”

What’s that? Pessimistic law students received better job offers? Those who regularly anticipate undesirable outcomes are better able to navigate an antagonistic situation in which another party is trying to grind you into a pulp? Shocking.

Look, being constantly negative and pessimistic is a drag. No one wants to conduct their life that way. But a healthy dose of skepticism is a virtual necessity in the practice of law. You have to be able to predict and expect negative outcomes to your clients’ problems. That’s why they hired you. So be mildly optimistic, it can help you with life. But when it comes to the practice of law, it’s probably best to put optimism and passion on the side.

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Keith Lee practices law at Hamer Law Group, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. He writes about professional development, the law, the universe, and everything at Associate’s Mind. He is also the author of The Marble and The Sculptor: From Law School To Law Practice (affiliate link), published by the ABA. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @associatesmind.

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