Malcolum Butler (by Jeffrey Beall via Wikimedia)
By the time you read this column, which I am deliberately drafting before the Super Bowl, there is a good chance that the protagonist, Malcolm Butler, will have had a significant impact on the actual game (for good or ill, depending on your rooting interest). Butler is a highly-regarded cornerback for the New England Patriots, who is expected to have a key role in attempting to stop the potent passing offense of the Atlanta Falcons, the Patriots’ opponents in this year’s game.
These are not the easiest times for football fans. While the sport remains exceedingly popular (and super-profitable for team owners), it is also becoming more difficult for thoughtful fans to look past the evidence that football players themselves are exposed to debilitating (and potentially deadly) risk, just by playing the game. Or to overlook the lack of loyalty that team owners have shown to their respective fan bases, with the incessant interest to move their teams to ritzier locales being exhibited by some owners. At the same time, this year’s Super Bowl will once again be the biggest show around, and Super Bowl Sunday will continue as a de facto national holiday. Even casual fans recognize football’s unique mix of physicality and strategic complexity, elements that make the game so beloved to such a wide cross-section of people worldwide.
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Butler’s position, cornerback, is a difficult position to play, and none of his expected roles are enviable ones. He might have to contend with Julio Jones, a generational talent at wide receiver for the Falcons who has the potential to single-handedly flip the game in his team’s favor. Or he might be able to lock down the other side of the field while the Patriots double-team Jones. Butler’s background, and past performance, suggest he will be up for either challenge.
As with other sports, football is a meritocracy, where performance determines success or failure. As with law firms, pedigree matters as well, with players who went to established collegiate programs having an advantage over those players coming from less heralded schools. For his part, Butler was definitely not tabbed for professional success, having gone undrafted after playing at West Alabama, which is definitely not the Alabama that has captured NCAA championship after championship in recent years. But like many underdogs, he took his chances when they were presented, and became a household name by intercepting Russell Wilson at the goal-line to help the Patriots win the Super Bowl in early 2015. So what can we learn as lawyers from Butler’s story, other than that you can land at football’s version of Wachtell Lipton with a degree from a TTT law school?
First, it is always important to beware the underdog. That maxim holds true whether you are playing sports or attempting to practice law at the highest levels. There is always someone who has been written off as not having the right pedigree, but actually has the talent to flourish — especially if they are placed into the right environment. There is no doubt that the Patriots are the leading organization in the NFL, with the most-prepared and mentally tough players (as last night’s game proved – I added this sentence this morning, obviously). Butler may have always had the physical talent, but if he had gone to the wrong organization, without the training and exposure to high-stakes games afforded by being on the Patriots, he might very well have washed out without a whimper.
Some of the toughest lawyers out there are those who overcame the odds, and ended up succeeding at top firms despite not having the “right” pedigree. Smart firms always have a spot for such strivers, if they have the same skill level as the other lawyers at the firm. What holds true for individual lawyers also holds true for small firms. Some of them punch above their weight, and thrive when they are disrespected by their larger brethren. As long as they deliver similar, or better, results, their clients do not care how large the firm is, or whether the firm has a satellite office on every continent.
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Second, it is not enough to just be an underdog, and carry a chip on one’s shoulder as a result. Instead, Butler teaches us that if you take advantage of the preparation and training afforded you, you will be in a position to succeed when presented the opportunity (assuming you have the talent as well). Making the most of opportunity is a skill that all lawyers need to have, even those with the most sterling pedigrees. Law is a business with a short memory, and lawyers are only as good as their last result. The lawyer (or law firm) who can afford to squander opportunities is very rare indeed, just as the cornerback who continually drops easy interceptions will likely be looking for other employment very soon. Butler seized his moment, and we always need to do the same.
Third, and in a similar vein, Butler teaches us the importance of using success as a springboard, rather than treating it as an endpoint. Sure, if he would have retired after the 2015 Super Bowl he would have had everlasting fame as a Super Bowl hero. But he would likely have not had a career, and the continued opportunities for future success one affords, if he had chosen to rest on his singular, if sizable, laurel. There is a human temptation to dial effort back in the wake of success. But to achieve lasting success and longevity in any competitive endeavor, including as a lawyer, that urge must be defeated. This challenge may be toughest to avoid at small firms with variable income streams, such as firms that depend on the occasional contingency result.
Finally, Butler teaches us the importance of growing into a new role with confidence. Sure, he was an undrafted player from West Alabama, who turned into an unlikely Super Bowl hero and parlayed that into a chance to play starting cornerback for a championship team. But in order to flourish at the highest level, and turn into a real superstar, he also had to embrace the challenge of forgetting his origin story, and display the confidence that his new role is where he was expected to end up. It is easy to always play the underdog, and that approach can have value. But for those who want to succeed long-term, at some point it is important to act like you have always belonged as well. Ultimately, both football and law are professions that always seem to want to beat participants down. Butler’s story teaches us that champions come in many forms, and from many different backgrounds. Some underdogs even develop into alpha dogs.
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at [email protected] or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique. The firm’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.