Lawyers Should Thank And Compliment Each Other More Often

The legal profession doesn't have to be quite as adversarial as it is at times.

As many of us understand from first-hand experience, the legal profession can be very adversarial at times. Opposing counsel in litigation have a duty to be zealous advocates, and this necessarily means that attorneys need to do everything they can to secure advantages for their clients, often to the detriment of another party. However, in many situations it makes sense for lawyers to thank and compliment each other during the course of a representation.

Counsel who represent co-defendants in litigation often need to rely on each other in order to promote the interests of everyone’s clients. Indeed, co-defendants often share expert witness expenses and other costs associated with defending a case. In addition, counsel for co-defendants often need to rely on attorneys for different defendants to take the lead in certain parts of the litigation.

Earlier in my career, I worked on mass torts cases that often involved dozens of defendants. Depositions were the most important parts of these lawsuits, since this was when the plaintiffs would identify the parties that would bear responsibility in each case. During depositions, one attorney would take lead and ask the vast majority of the questions to be answered by the plaintiff. Each of the individual attorneys that had clients implicated in the case would ask their own questions, but the amount of questions they had would be much smaller than the amount of questions asked by lead examiner. The lawyer taking lead had to do the lion’s share of the work needed for the examination because they had to research the case and ask most of the questions while the other attorneys largely just took notes.

At this job, I often took lead at the mass torts depositions. Our clients were usually major players in these cases, and I kind of liked sharpening my skills and being at the center of attention by taking lead. When I was taking lead, I really appreciated it when the other lawyers would thank me for stepping up and taking lead for the benefit of all of the attorneys at the deposition. I also liked it when other attorneys complimented my work, and I made sure to thank and compliment anyone who was doing lead at a deposition in which my clients were not major players. This definitely helped promote congeniality among the lawyers who worked in that field, and it was good to know that I had the support of other attorneys with whom I worked.

Sometimes, it is important to compliment lawyers just to recognize solid lawyering and provide recognition for good work. This is especially true if said lawyering helps your client. Lawyers oftentimes need to take a back seat during litigation. This is usually because a client is not really implicated in a case or perhaps does not want to spend too much money when litigating a matter. As a result, some lawyers often need to drag the other defendants along because their clients have the most skin in the game, and it doesn’t hurt to thank and compliment these attorneys who are making your job a little easier.

Once, I was on a case with multiple defendants and a discovery dispute broke out between the defendants’ counsel and plaintiff’s counsel. One of the defense attorneys stepped up and filed a really impressive motion with the court about the situation. I dropped that attorney an email and thanked this lawyer for filing the motion and complimented the firm on their good work in preparing the papers. This lawyer was really appreciative, and I could tell that it was pretty novel that an attorney took the time to compliment another attorney’s work. Even if you can’t devote as many resources to a case as other attorneys on a matter, you can at least compliment and thank those lawyers who are stepping up to the plate.

In addition, thanking and complimenting other lawyers can go a long way toward promoting goodwill among defense lawyers on a case. Attorneys for defendants often need to rely on each other, whether its exchanging information about a matter, receiving courtesy copies of items not in an attorneys’ file, and splitting up tasks that need to be shared equally among defendants. I have asked for favors from fellow defense attorneys on multiple occasions, and more than once, the goodwill of these lawyers has saved my clients time and money. In addition, I am always happy to do courtesies for other lawyers, especially if there is goodwill between people who share a common defense. Thanking a lawyer and complimenting their work is a great step toward building a relationship with other attorneys, which can come in useful.

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All told, courtesy is important to the legal profession, and recognizing good work is also appreciated by many lawyers. As a result, attorneys should thank and compliment fellow lawyers more often because this helps build rapport and recognizes the hard work of attorneys who are working toward a common goal.


Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

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