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Bye, Bye, 2019, And Don’t Let the Door Hit You On The Way Out

Practicing law can be a lonely profession.

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No, I am not going to write a “2019 year in review” although there were some very memorable moments in our profession this year. As Satchel Paige said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”

Many others are far more conversant in the memorable moments of 2019, so I will leave it to them to highlight this past year, and in fact, this past decade.

But there’s no one better than humorist Dave Barry to put 2019 in the trash can where it belongs.

Avid readers of ATL will agree that that notorious “bowl of dicks” should also be trashed.

I have been heartened this year by the “progress” — although that may be too strong a word — or at least about the discussion that we lawyers are starting to have about mental health issues and how they affect us to a greater or lesser degree. It’s a really hard thing to out oneself as some lawyers have done in 2019 about their struggles with various forms of mental illness, be it anxiety, depression, OCD, or whatever we lawyers do battle with.

Practicing law is a lonely profession (attorney-client privilege is just one example), and I think it takes tremendous courage to stand up and be counted in that way. I am in awe of every single lawyer who has done so to date and those who will do so in the future.

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Perhaps by reducing the stigma that is still associated with mental health problems, (no, they are not contagious and are not cooties), we can also reduce the number of deaths by suicide we have seen among us in the past few years. The less we are afraid to confront our fears of failure, of not making partner, or not being promoted to general counsel, or not getting that judicial appointment we crave, the better our mental health will be. I don’t think you can “have it all,” at least not all at once. Perhaps seriatim, but not all at once. The sooner we understand that, I think we will be healthier for that understanding. It’s called the “practice of law” for a reason.

Rather than writing New Year’s resolutions, which I think are a crock, I love the idea of a failure resume. Do  you have one? I don’t yet, but I think writing one is a good idea (no, I’m not going to share it with you). I’ll write one just as soon as I finish my mandatory CLE hours.

A failure resume keeps us both grounded and humble (the latter not an adjective usually associated with lawyers). I will need a scroll to write down all my failures, both professional and personal. I wonder if I can pay someone to follow behind me and make sure the scroll stays unwound. My motto has always been “cheerful paid staff.”

Having a failure resume does not mean being a failure. We are human, we make mistakes, we screw up on a more or less regular basis, and we get depressed when we don’t succeed on our terms. But success on our terms doesn’t mean it’s not success. It may just be in a different form than expected. It doesn’t make it worse, it just makes it different.

I am less heartened by the seemingly glacial pace of diversity and inclusion in our ranks. Describing the progress as “at a snail’s pace” is too complimentary for what I have seen and what I will continue to see, absent some overnight wholesale changes in the mindset of the decision makers: who gets to be a partner, let alone an equity partner, who makes the promotional decision for advancement in house (and that doesn’t mean hiring another white male to be general counsel when there are plenty of diverse in-house candidates chomping for the opportunity). There’s nothing more disheartening than to know that all your blood, sweat, tears, and years have, in the end, meant nothing.

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January is also a time to consider where you are, career-wise, and where you might want to be. I’m not saying that twelve months from now you will want to switch jobs or will do so, but you might want to consider whether what you are doing is satisfying in a non-soul-sucking way.

As for life here in the Golden State, which some are claiming is now tarnished, given homelessness, traffic, weather (yes, we have it), and the high cost of living, litigation is already underway on various employment law legislation set to take effect on January 1.

But wait, there’s more! The lawyers’ full employment act for the new year:

Uber and Postmates call AB 5 unconstitutional in new lawsuit.

The French have a saying that I translate from my high school French into “the more things change, the more things stay the same.” In 2020, I hope not.

Jill 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 [email protected].

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