Al Davis, the now deceased owner of the Oakland Raiders, coined a famous sports phrase: “Just win baby.” The little quote embodies the concept of stripping away peripheral distractions in favor of focusing on a single, outcome-based goal: winning.
For young lawyers working in plaintiffs’ firms, Davis’s quote illuminates the path towards professional prosperity. Plaintiffs’ firms are inherently outcome-based businesses. “Win” a case, make a fee. “Lose” a case, don’t make a fee. While the process is important in bringing about the desired outcome, it is the outcome that triggers the contingency fee and generates revenue for the firm.
Contrast the outcome-based model of the plaintiffs’ firm with the process-based model of the defense firm. While the eventual outcome is important in keeping a defense client happy, the process generates revenue for the firm in the form of hourly fees.
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The outcome-based model of the plaintiffs’ firm cannot afford to reward mere participation. The model cannot even afford to reward hard work without a profitable outcome. Hardworking attorneys can invest hours upon hours in a case, but without the right outcome, the plaintiffs’ firm cannot reap the benefits of such work.
Given this reality, the ambitious young plaintiffs’ lawyer must learn to aggressively focus her attention on outcome-based goals. While her peers find professional success through achieving process-based billable hour goals, the plaintiffs’ lawyer’s path to prosperity lies in learning how to achieve profitable outcomes on a consistent basis.
Smart Case Selection Leads To Profitable Outcomes
The attainment of profitable outcomes starts with smart case selection. Plaintiffs’ lawyers are bombarded by sad stories from potential clients. Most lawyers want to help. Some fall into the trap of believing that they can help everyone. In reality, regardless of the degree of sadness, it is hard to “win” a bad case. Bad facts can’t be changed. It is important to uncover those bad facts before agreeing to accept a case. If not, the lawyer may find herself sinking a ton of time in a case and walking away with an outcome that will not benefit her client or her firm.
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The Relentless Pursuit Of An Outcome
Plaintiffs’ firms secure revenue through outcomes. Ideally, optimal outcomes are secured and revenue is generated. But even a bad outcome marks the end of a case that requires the firm to expend time and energy. Given this reality, a bad outcome is preferable to no outcome at all.
The young plaintiffs’ lawyer must understand this reality and relentlessly push her cases towards outcomes – good or bad. She must push the discovery process along in search of the almighty trial date. Procrastination and continuances of deadlines only delay the outcomes needed by plaintiffs’ firms to survive.
Pushing cases towards outcomes requires disciplined time management, competition with defense opponents working under process-based models, and navigation through a judicial system that is often stretched thin.
A Laser-Like Focus On Outcome-Determinative Work
One of my least favorite lawyer cocktail party games is “Who works the hardest?” A group of lawyers standing around chit-chatting about nothing. One lawyer innocently says, “Hey Susie, how have you been?” Susie goes on to belly che about how busy she has been, how much time she has spent at the office, how little vacation she has taken, etc. Not to be out done, Frank politely allows Susie to finish before launching into his own sad tale of being busy. Each person in the group takes their turn. Fifteen minutes later, the “hardworking lawyer pissing contest” is over with no clear winner.
Acknowledging that lawyers are busy is like acknowledging that they wear shoes. No kidding. The question for the smart plaintiffs’ lawyer: what type of work is she busy with?
I’ve heard it said that at best only 50% of the collective work performed by lawyers on both sides of a case is outcome-determinative. In other words, there is a ton of wasted time and energy in a given case.
The successful plaintiffs’ lawyer learns to decipher outcome-determinative work from everything else. She learns to pour herself into the 50% of the work that actually helps facilitate the outcome her client is looking for. She leaves the other 50% to those that enjoy playing lawyer cocktail party games.
The Courage To Make Outcome-Determinative Decisions
Prosperity as a plaintiffs’ lawyer requires outcome-determinative decision-making. It takes a certain degree of courage to make outcome-determinative decisions in a case. It can be scary. There is no guarantee that the right decision will be made. A wrong decision can lead to a lost case. It can lead to professional second-guessing.
The young plaintiffs’ lawyer must embrace opportunities that require her to make outcome-determinative decisions. It is through these decisions, both good and bad, that she acquires the legal life lessons necessary to facilitate a prosperous practice.
Most of the civil legal profession operates under the process-based model of hourly fees for services rendered. The plaintiffs’ lawyer’s practice is fundamentally different. Young lawyers who seek to prosper in this unique environment must recognize the differences and come to grips with the reality that hard work alone will never be enough. Outcomes are imperative.
In the immortal words of Al Davis: “Just win, baby.”
Jed Cain is a trial lawyer and partner with Herman, Herman, & Katz, LLC in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jed writes about family, the law, and Louisiana current events at Cain’s River. He can be reached by email at [email protected].