In-House Counsel

Lawyers Aren’t Infallible

Sometimes lawyers make mistakes. Shake them off, and keep going.

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Whether you are entering the twilight of your legal career or are a 3L counting down the days until graduation, I often think it is helpful to remember that lawyers make mistakes.

An obvious reminder, sure, but in a profession that stresses infallibility, it can be difficult to remember.

During law school, perfection is beat into your head. From striving to be first in your class to reading countless perfectly crafted legal briefs written in perfect prose, you are taught anything less than your best is a failure. Heck, even a misplaced comma or period in a legal citation could earn instant scorn from a professor.

As your career progresses, the pressure for perfection does not diminish. Whether you are striving toward a coveted partnership or the title of general counsel, the specter of being infallible reigns supreme.

While we admittedly work in a profession that demands a low error rate, if you happen to be human and make one while on the job, shake it off. Get back on your horse, and keep going.

Just last month I received a memo from one of our outside counsels that contained a typo. A typo! The same type of error that would have earned an immediate deduction in grade had it been made in law school.

Worst of all, the typo was not made by some fourth-tier law school grad. In fact, the attorney who wrote it had even clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court. Sure, I noticed the typo, but guess what, I still acted on their counsel and even paid their full invoice without requesting a reduction for having subjected my eyes to improper grammar. I also plan to continue to use their services moving forward.

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More recently several attorneys on our in-house team misinterpreted a new federal rule and errantly adjusted one of our business practices to comport with their interpretation. Their interpretation resulted in several meetings with senior leaders to prepare for the change and hours of retraining for team members, all of which was unnecessary.

Yet, when their error was discovered, not a single member of senior leadership called for their head. Mistakes happen, and when dealing with complying with a federal rule, sometimes safe is better than sorry.

Almost each and every day on the job I can find some sort of fault in my own work or that of my legal colleagues. However, I never take it as a personal failure, but rather as an opportunity for growth or for education for my colleagues.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with the continued pursuit of perfection. Our profession is tough, and in extreme cases, filing something even a day late with a court could quite literally be the difference between life and death.

But if you happen to make an error along the way of your legal career, know it will be okay and that you are not alone. From the Ivy Leagues to the corner offices of Biglaw, mistakes are a way of life.

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Learn from them, and move on.

Stephen R. Williams is in-house counsel with a multi-facility hospital network in the Midwest. His column focuses on a little talked about area of the in-house life, management. You can reach Stephen at [email protected].

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