Litigators, Small Law Firms

FYI Lawyers: Always Back Your People

To have credibility in the legal profession, you need to be loyal. And no one likes disloyal people.

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Don’t just advocate for your clients. Advocate for your team (and, in so doing, your clients). Leaders need to set the example.

A few weeks ago, I was awaiting an argument in the courtroom of (in my opinion) one of the most dignified and gentlemanly judges in the Southern District of New York where my colleagues and I commonly practice.

However, the judge was not as gentlemanly as he normally is. That is because as I waited the judge had an argument on a motion. I observed a big firm partner commit what anyone on a team, and especially a leader on a team, should know is the cardinal sin: he was disloyal.

The judge had asked about a particular filing which in some fashion the big firm had mishandled. Rather than fall on the sword — which he should have — the partner noted that a junior associate had misinterpreted an individual practice rule of the judge and somehow screwed up the filing.

The judge was not impressed. Indeed, the relatively young judge lectured the partner, who was older than the judge, on how the partner was responsible for the conduct of the litigation, not the partner’s subordinates. While the judge did not necessarily use the words (I think mindful that there was a record and the partner’s client might see the transcript), it seemed pretty clear to me that the judge was angry at the partner blaming the junior associate who, I presume, was one of the gaggle of younger lawyers sitting not at counsel table but in the audience.

If you want people to be loyal, you publicly back them, period. But lawyers have another reason to stand by their people (though loyalty is ample reason enough). To have credibility you need to be loyal. And no one likes disloyal people.

That federal court judge had disdain for the senior guy selling out the junior guy (keep in mind that the judge himself likely had a few clerks at just about that junior associate’s age and experience level). Now we can say that that judge should not let that view of the partner interfere with the judge’s decision-making in that case, or subsequent ones with the partner. But do the experienced trial lawyers amongst us actually believe that? I’m not saying that the judge will go a different way on a dispositive motion just because the partner was — bluntly — a disloyal jerk. However, if we’re talking about whether or not to grant an extension or, even more, whether to grant more time during an argument, or leeway for questioning during a hearing, the differences at the margin can make a difference.

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Standing by and behind your people is a moral obligation in general. Lawyers, especially leaders in law offices, have a particularly high obligation in this regard, both so their people feel protected, and so their clients have the benefits of the best advocacy.

john-balestriereJohn Balestriere is an entrepreneurial trial lawyer who founded his firm after working as a prosecutor and litigator at a small firm. He is a partner at trial and investigations law firm Balestriere Fariello in New York, where he and his colleagues represent domestic and international clients in litigation, arbitration, appeals, and investigations. You can reach him by email at john.g.balestriere@balestrierefariello.com.

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