Small Law Firms

The Importance Of Mentors In The Legal Profession

Good advice from mentors never goes out of style. It’s ageless.

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Good advice comes from everyone and everywhere. Lawyers do not have a lock on it. So, whenever I come across some good advice, I share it on the theory that the more we know, the better we can help our clients, our colleagues, and ourselves.

When I think back on those who have helped me achieve whatever success I have achieved, whether I label them mentors or just those who were there for me when I needed them, I remember their words and try to pass them on. Good advice never goes out of style. It’s ageless.

My first piece of great advice didn’t come from a lawyer, but from the director of news operations at the all-news radio station I worked at. He taught me everything I needed to know about a particular job that I was promoted to. Even in my early twenties, I knew that knowledge equaled power, and this man shared everything he knew so that I could do the job as best I could. He withheld nothing. When I asked him why, his reply (and I can still see his flashing blue eyes) was simple: “So if I fall over at the editor’s desk, you can kick my body aside and take over.”  It didn’t get any more succinct than that. My first lesson in succession planning.

Flash forward to my first job as a lawyer, a baby deputy district attorney assigned to conduct preliminary hearings all day, every day. How do I put on enough evidence to hold the defendant to answer without going into any more than was needed? A senior felony deputy handed me the criminal jury instructions and said simply that the instructions contained what I needed to prove, not only for the preliminary hearing, but for trial. Follow the jury instructions, he said, they’re your guidepost for trying the case efficiently and completely without getting into the weeds. Good advice I have used ever since in case evaluation.

One other good piece of advice, whether representing a plaintiff or defendant, is start from the end in understanding your case. What witnesses will you have? Do you have an “empty chair” problem (e.g., witnesses skedaddled, fired, or whatever)? If so, what then? Work backwards.

Bad advice? Micromanaging, for example. I thought (and I still do) that there is nothing worse than micromanaging, which is a whole lot different from supervising. I think we all know the difference. Micromanaging is a version of helicoptering. I had one “mentor” (aka boss) who couldn’t resist the impulse to micromanage. At some point, I said that he could do my work as well as his own and save my salary, and that if he didn’t trust me to know what was best for the organization, then there was no point in my being there. In frustration, I quit.

Robert Caro, the author of a number of superb biographies about President Lyndon Johnson, has written a book about working.  Caro was an investigative reporter at Newsday. He recalls the advice that his managing editor gave him when he started his investigative career.  The editor said, “Turn every page. Never assume anything. Turn every goddamned page.” I think that advice applies to lawyers as well. In fact, I can tell you it does based upon my own experiences.

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One time, I decided to pull the court’s files on a case that was only tangentially related to the one we were litigating, but which might — just might — be useful. I was deep in the bowels of the Hall of Records looking at the archive files in that case, looking for any scrap that we might be able to use to drive down the settlement number the plaintiff was demanding. After “turning every page,” we were able to do just that. Shazam!

On another occasion, reviewing the discovery the plaintiff had provided, there was the smoking gun that clearly said my client had absolutely nothing to do with the plaintiff’s claims. “Turn every page.” Shazam! That case went away.

Mentors play a part in showing how to develop leadership skills, and if you ever have aspirations of being a general counsel, a department head, a managing partner, watching them interact with others and the responses they engender through those interactions are valuable learning tools. One mentor told me to put down the phone (in the days before email and texting took over the world) and go visit the executive who was cranky about something. Face-to-face contact made the difference. And yes, I know I’m a dinosaur, but face to face has advantages, not the least of which was putting a face to the voice who was hollering on the speakerphone.

At the University of Pennsylvania, there’s a project called “Work Horse,” which is a team-building workshop for business groups. A Wall Street Journal article talked about how horses can teach us humans how to better interact with other humans. The lesson learned: stop pushing. No one likes to be pushed, especially lawyers, and so if we act collaboratively, we can get better results. (However, that doesn’t hold true for the jerk of an opposing counsel who throws every roadblock to settlement. We’ve all been there.)

Finally, I think the advice given by a friend to Mark Twain is just as valuable today as in his time, if not more so. The friend told Twain that it was easier to stay out of trouble than to get out. Res ipsa loquitur.

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old lady lawyer elderly woman grandmother grandma laptop computerJill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 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 oldladylawyer@gmail.com.

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