In-House Counsel

The Peeled Banana Solution And The Modern Lawyer

There will be times when you don’t have the knowledge, tools, or staff to handle a problem in a way that you might have anticipated you would.

By  
on

“Olga, come.” My husband banged in panic on my office window. “We need to save a baby deer,” he said, demanding that I drop everything and help — like I know anything about fawns.

I canceled my next meeting, telling the folks on my team that I had a baby deer to save.

We rushed to the scene as if a family member had been in a car accident. Our dramatic approach was not unmerited, however, as the little guy’s eyes wouldn’t open and he wasn’t really responding to our pleas. I just kept thinking, Is he dying? How do we help him? Does anyone know baby deer CPR?!

The baby refused the peeled banana that Katie, my older daughter, generously offered. Yep, that was all we could think to do — offering him a peeled banana.

A little Googling revealed that fawns prefer goat milk to cow milk when their mother’s milk is unavailable. I shared with my husband that this is why his insistence on 0% milk had annoyed me from the day we met! He was puzzled.

My mother brought a bowl with milk. Why a bowl, you ask? Well, since we hadn’t had babies for almost a decade, we no longer had baby bottles.

We seriously considered calling animal control but picked Google instead. It turns out that, until fawns are strong enough to keep up, deer fawns are left alone while their mothers go off to feed.

Sponsored

Thank God for Google!

We wished him farewell and left with tears in our eyes, imagining the worst. Surely, the little guy’s days were numbered. Ten minutes later, we watched from a distance as the mother returned from over the crest of the hill. The fawn became ecstatic, prancing with energy. The li’l guy must have likely rolled his eyes when we were all crying around him!

The mother ate the banana. She even explored the bowl of zero-fat milk for a few moments, though she quickly lost interest — even she agreed that the white water in our fridge shouldn’t be called “milk”! And, then, the two of them walked away, probably discussing the five weird humans they encountered in the wild.

I learned quite a lot that day, not just about fawns, but also about what it means to be a lawyer. Having spent many years in the field, I can guarantee you will come across your fair share of fawns. If anything, the modern lawyer will encounter more and more fawn sagas. The world is rapidly changing and, with that, there are challenges –- both legal and otherwise — that we have never encountered, situations that are entirely unprecedented.

These are the “baby deer days.” These are the days where something happens that forces us to cancel our meetings. Where obvious solutions to your problems are unavailable. There will be times when you don’t have the knowledge, tools, or staff to handle a problem in a way that you might have anticipated you would. Your “peeled banana solutions” — though full of good intentions — might end up being fruitless.

Sponsored

It is in those times where modern lawyers must keep their wits about them. Be prepared to research, be open to learning and experimenting, and most of all, be open to creativity and innovation. The world does not change in perfect, predictable patterns. It evolves in spontaneous spurts of breakthroughs. The modern lawyer must be prepared to do the same.

Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.

Topics

,