Mark Levison, The Levison Group
In bed each night, I think about all of the things I am thankful for that happened during that day. It's probably a habit I picked up from some unwashed 1970s guru I meditated with in India during my post-college quest for enlightenment and its various accoutrements. Additionally, sometimes, while fluffing my pillow, I try to think positively about things I will be doing the next day. That might be a result of Stephen Covey's self-help habits for effective lawyers. Last night, however, the two practices merged as I found myself thinking how thankful I was for what I would be doing today. I was going to court.
I wasn't going to court to try a case. It was just a commonplace motion practice type court appearance. If I had been going to trial, the emotion would be different. That is an adrenaline-filled experience loaded with excitement, dedication and naked fear all at the same time. No, I was just feeling thankful about a legal job of work to do in respect to a simple motion to consolidate.
I've now been a lawyer for what most other lawyers deem to be a long time. Still, I remember, as if it were last week, the day I lost my first oral argument, and the judge who handed me that "crushing defeat." I even remember the specific losing argument I made that morning. I hadn't lost any motions until then, and believed I never would. Now, a number of years and many lost legal battles of all varieties behind me, it is still fun to go to court.
I like putting on a suit. I like picking out a tie. My suit today was hand-tailored. It had a little more flair than the reasonably priced poplin suits I wore in the early days, but the feeling of putting on the suit is the same. Whereas other people wear casual clothes to go to work, I get to wear nice clothes. I know lawyers younger than me prefer not dressing up. That's their choice. To me it's not a matter of clothes making the man, it is a matter of clothes saying something about the dignity with which we treat our profession.
Anyway, I wasn't happy only because I was putting on nice clothes. I was happy because I was going to see opposing counsel and have the opportunity to joust a little. I was happy because today I got to be a lawyer in front of a judge. I was happy that I was going to court where I would run into many lawyers I know who would be doing the same thing.
If that seems uninspiring, it's all how one perceives "doing the same thing." Doing the same thing could be thought of as the drudgery of going to work. The same thing could be having to argue a motion against a lawyer who one anticipates will distort the relevant case law beyond recognition. The same thing could be arguing in front of a judge who is plainly not as smart as you, or maybe is thinking about his preference for driving the ball off the first tee rather than puttering around his courtroom. The more I write about "doing the same thing" with that type of perspective the more depressed I am getting about my court appearance.
On the other hand, "doing the same thing" could mean once again having the honor to be somebody's representative in court, in order to look out for their interests. Doing the same thing might mean being well prepared. Doing the same thing might mean providing monetary support for our own families, or maybe doing the same thing might mean being able to help a client who can't pay to get justice because, after all, we know that there are plenty of other clients who will pay us to be their advocate.
I am happy when I am able to help somebody who might not have gotten the same result without the hard work I put into the job. The feeling is the same whether they are paying me or not. Doing the same thing might be piling up another victory, yet at times, it also might mean losing a case, but having the client say, "I am disappointed with the result, but I know how hard you fought for me."
Sometimes people just don't realize how good they have it. Some lawyers fall into that category and don't appreciate what this profession provides. While we lawyers on the front lines get the excitement and sometimes even the glory, those back in the office don't usually get a lot of acknowledgements. I, for one, am grateful for the people I have around me to help me do my job.
Through the years I have been fortunate enough to have been hired to represent big businesses, as well as professional sports leagues, teams and famous athletes, but I have been equally fortunate to represent people with much smaller bank accounts, or no bank accounts.
I recently represented a gay woman who had been harassed by a male for sexual favors. She gave him a rather rude response and got fired. My experience did not provide the type of representation she should have had, but she had no money, needed help, and I didn't think any of the well-known lawyers who do this kind of work would take her particular case on a contingency. She wasn't getting paid very much in the first place. Still, I tried, and we ended up with a pretty good result. With a little support from me, and I'm sure help from others, Janie got back on her feet and found a job working at one of America's largest companies, in a job she loves, making four times what she was making at her former job.
Sometimes we forget that there are lots of people that are flipping burgers and working at boring jobs well below their skill levels. There are many reasons for that. Some have to do with them, some have to do with circumstances beyond them. Many hard workers bring lunch in a pail and don't have enough money to go to a restaurant. Most of us don't realize that when a "poor" person gets a toothache, he often just gets his tooth pulled because he can't afford a crown. It's easy to take things for granted and it's easy to fail to appreciate all the work we all get to do as lawyers.
So, when it comes to "doing the same thing" I'm all for it.
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Under Analysis is a nationally syndicated column of the Levison Group. Mark Levison is a member of the law firm of Lashly & Baer. Contact Under Analysis by e-mail at comments@levison group.com.
© 2015 Under Analysis L.L.C.
Published: Fri, Apr 29, 2016
