Small Law Firms, Travel / Vacation

Why You Should Go On Vacation

Even if you love your work and love your city and love your neighbors, you need to break away every so often, and during the summer is the best time.

By  
on
Gary J. Ross

Gary J. Ross

It’s summer vacation time. You know what that means: Out-of- office replies. Or even worse, no out of office replies — just no response at all, kind of like when I try to follow up with a match (don’t swipe right if you’re not interested in communicating!). The question is, this summer are you going to be one of those with an out-of-office reply?

In Biglaw, I used to mock people who didn’t go on vacation. Some people would wear it like a badge of honor: “I haven’t been on a vacation in six years!” I would think, what a waste. We only go around once, and I’m still doubtful as to whether or not a person goes on vacation is an important factor in making partner or avoiding a mass layoff.

Then I got to SmallLaw, where taking a vacation is next to impossible. One of my first columns was about this. You don’t have to ask for permission from anyone to go on vacation, but it’s a financial blow. You miss the work that would have ordinarily come in, you miss any potential clients that you could have met that week, and you still have to pay office rent, salaries, and all other recurring expenses.

Plus you could lose current clients. In Curtis Martin’s Hall of Fame speech, he said that Bill Parcels once told him, “You should never come out of the huddle because you never know who is going in the huddle.” (He was telling Martin to play injured.) If a matter is urgent — if a client needs an LLC formed right away, or a contract reviewed the same day — they’ll have to get another lawyer to do it. What if that lawyer is a superstar? What if it turns out their kids play soccer together? Or that whatever issue came up, the lawyer just finished an article or gave a speech about it. You never know. After all, I only have incriminating pictures of a few of my clients. The rest could leave me.

Before I go into this week’s mini-listicle, one tip I’ll share is to ask for permission from our clients. Or maybe “permission” isn’t the right word, but we should say, “Hey, I plan on going on vacation the last week in July. Do you think this might cause any problems for you all?” Don’t ask every last client, because then inevitably you’ll have to go on vacation at a time when someone told you they’d rather you didn’t, but I would check with your top three clients to make sure your proposed time off works. You don’t want to send the notice that you’ll be out next week and have one of your larger clients complain, “Geez, of all the weeks to be out, you had to pick next week?!?”

Here are some reasons why, no matter how hard it is to pull yourself away from work, you should go on vacation:

Sponsored

Clients want you to. No one wants to hear that you never go on vacation, including clients. Sure, they also don’t want to hear you’re taking five weeks off and can’t be reached during that time, but they definitely don’t want their lawyers to be burned out and bitter. They want their lawyers to be rested and focused and ready and eager to tackle their legal work.

Brainstorms happen. Every now and then, a light bulb will go off when I’m at my desk logging another 12-hour day. But it’s rare. Generally, my best ideas come when I’m running or swimming or on a flight somewhere. Or just when I’m out and about and not even thinking about work. Poof! Out of the blue, an idea will get into my head. Compare: Where was I when I decided to start giving talks on funding startups? In a national park. Where was I when I decided to get a postage meter mailing system that we use maybe once a month? In the office. (I know what you’re thinking: but where you when you decided to write for Above the Law?)

Unplug. Unwind. De-stress. Get away from it all. Clear your head. Shed the anxiety. Read Jeena Cho. Come back rested and focused. It’s like sleeping at night, but instead of your body that needs the rest, it’s your psyche.

Test out WiFi. Who are we kidding? As soon as you get to your destination, something’s going to blow up. If you ever want to see how the WiFi is in Saint Croix, book that flight. Just don’t forget your laptop, because you’re not getting away that easy.

Expand your network. Whether I’m traveling for business or pleasure, I make it a point to go to one networking event. Last year, I happened to be in Geneva and went to a FinTech event at which a lawyer from London was speaking. I introduced myself to him afterwards, and two months later he referred one of his firm’s clients to me that needed a lawyer in the U.S. Just like that. It paid for the trip to Geneva!

Sponsored

Even if you love your work and love your city and love your neighbors, you need to break away every so often, and during the summer — when so many others are out — is the best time.

Back in Biglaw, I once went on a group dinner with partners and summers, and this older partner I worked with who didn’t attend many events happened to come along. He starts talking about how he works until 2 a.m. every evening, doesn’t have time for a social life, has been divorced twice, can’t remember the last time he’s been on vacation, and generally outlined a fairly miserable life. I think it scared the summers, and if it hadn’t been 2008, one or two of them might have even rejected their offer.

Don’t be that guy.  Go on vacation.

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 securities matters for startups, large and small businesses, private equity funds, and investors in each, and also has a number of non-profit clients. You can reach Gary by email at Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.

Topics

, , , , ,