(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The last column for 2017, what to write about? I will give certain topics a rest: ageism, sexism, dinosaur v. millennial conflicts, what will the profession will look like when I’m taking a dirt nap, student loan debt, law school failures, bar passage rates, the State Bar of California (one of my favorite topics to thump on), “what were they thinking?” absurdities, and the like.
I saw the movie Darkest Hour this weekend, the story of Winston Churchill becoming Prime Minister in the spring of 1940, when Hitler was busily gobbling up Western Europe and measuring the United Kingdom for invasion. The movie tells the story of the first few weeks of Churchill’s stint until the evacuation of Dunkirk. Go see the movie.
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Churchill was 60 (not a typo) when he became Prime Minister in 1940, and he rallied his country during the darkest days of World War II, when Britain stood alone against the Nazis and we, the United States of America, stood on the sidelines.
Concurrently, I read Paul Johnson’s book, Churchill. Relax, it’s not one of those doorstop size books about Churchill. It’s less than 200 pages and for anyone interested in Churchill and in how he lived his life, both as PM and not, it’s definitely worth the read.
Per Johnson, lessons gleaned from Churchill’s life may be useful in today’s world. His life and how he lived it offers a tutorial for us to think about as 2018 approaches.
The first lesson: “always aim high.” That doesn’t mean always reaching the target, but it does mean that you can achieve something worthwhile even if you fall short of your ultimate goal. We often forget that on our way to purported perfection, we achieve what is “good enough.”
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The second lesson: “there is no substitute for hard work.” Amen to that. Computerized legal research is one of my pet peeves. Yes, I’m a dinosaur, but I think that computerized legal research, while great in some respects, is off the mark in others. Yes, it saves time, yes, it saves the client money (at least that’s the theory), but it doesn’t necessarily get you what you need or want.
In the “old days” (sorry, I couldn’t resist), we had to have good eyes to troll through the Shepard’s Citator with print in maybe 6-point type. Now, if I had to look at Shepard’s in print today (and I admit that I’m happy that I don’t have to), I’d squint through my reading glasses, asking a millennial if that’s an “o” or an “e.” Sigh. Old age is not for sissies. Just wait.
My other rant about Johnson’s second point is about listservs. I think they are great ideas in principle, but again, there’s no substitute for hard work. When I see an email on a listserv that says something to the effect of “I’m looking for a case that says X,” or “I need a statute that says Y,” my unwritten (I’m not interested in hearing from haters, thank you) response is “go do the research.” How are you going to learn how to do these things for yourself unless you do them?
The third lesson: “don’t allow mistakes, personal disasters, natural accidents, illnesses, unpopularity, and criticism to get you down.” We spend enormous amounts of time and energy perseverating about what we did or did not do. It’s the “shoulda, woulda, coulda” syndrome. We’re not perfect, although we beat ourselves up when we’re not. We’re not universally loved or lovable, but so what? I don’t think any of us went to law school to win popularity contests, and if we did, we sure did make a wrong turn at the LSAT.
Lesson four: “don’t waste time and emotional energy on the meannesses of life: recriminations, shifting the blame onto others, malice, revenge seeking, dirty tricks, spreading rumors, harboring grudges, vendettas.” Any of these sound familiar? How much time do we spend ranting about opposing counsel, our clients, the judge, support staff? What good does it really do in the scheme of things? Just because opposing counsel is a jerk doesn’t mean that you have to be one. Given the steep decline in professionalism among lawyers over the years, lesson four has particular meaning and value for all of us.
Stop whining about your perception of unfair treatment from whatever the source. It’s unprofessional and demeans you and the profession, not that many lawyers seem to care about the latter anymore. Yes, life is unfair, but suck it up. Did anyone ever promise you that it would be fair? Right, the self-esteem movement; yes, I know, it started here in California. My apologies.
Lesson five, and I’m paraphrasing here: if there’s no hatred in your life, then there’s room for joy. Given the drudgery that a lot of law practice entails (discovery as just one example), it’s essential that other parts of your life have joy, have meaning, complete you in ways that practice doesn’t necessarily provide. It can be anything from coaching kids in sports to pro bono work to being active in whatever group or interest you have to excavating the creativity that was buried as of first-year contracts class.
Churchill got on well with nearly everyone who worked with him or for him; he had no class consciousness. Contrast with some lawyers who think that support staff and/or paralegals and/or junior lawyers and/or staff lawyers are beneath them. Shortsighted at best, arrogant at worst, it is all those “peons” who make those lawyers look good professionally, but make them look like putzes personally.
So, 2018 is almost here. Am I suggesting any or all of these lessons as possible New Year’s resolutions? Nope. That’s your call. Do I make any prognostications for the coming year? Nope, my crystal ball is in the shop, and after this past year, I don’t dare.
Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at [email protected].