Ours can be a difficult profession. Regardless of the type of law we practice, whether we’re litigators, judges, transactional attorneys, in-house counsel, government lawyers, solos, or in a big firm, there are always stresses. There is time pressure, the pressure to be responsive, to perform, to achieve results for clients, to make the right judgment calls and the right decisions, to earn a living and advance in our careers. All while living a life outside the courtroom or the office.
Finding healthy ways to cope with those stresses is important. Hobbies can help. Some folks find solace in knitting, or reading, or painting or music. I fish.
My grandfather taught me to fish almost from the time I could walk. I treasure the memories he made with me, whether we were bobber fishing for bluegill in our pond or trolling and casting for walleye and perch in a lake we frequently visited in the remote north woods. Although he passed long ago, the love he gave me of fishing, the care he taught me for the environment, and the respect for the fish we caught continue to this day.
I am passable with spinning gear and mediocre at best with a fly rod, but I still fish and I am still learning. I try to get away for an extended trip at least once each year to get out in nature, far away from people and from cell service, and just fish.
A few years ago we had a preplanned trip that happened to occur while I was in the depths of several cases I found to be particularly stressful. I arranged to go flats fishing for a half-day with a local fishing guide on the island we were visiting. At one point, when he took a break from his pointed — but accurate — criticism of my fly-casting skills, he asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was a lawyer.
A little later, after I misplaced another cast, he asked me whether I liked being a lawyer. I didn’t answer right away. My stock answer to that question is that I love what I do, which is the truth. I represent injured people and their families, and I love and find great purpose in helping them. But that day, despite the setting and being far away from work geographically, I was still feeling the stress of it all, and I took a beat to think before answering. I eventually told the guide that while I love what I do, I was finding it to be very stressful.
He laughed, shook his head, then asked a simple question: “Do you give a crap?” In truth, he used more colorful language that, because my mother may read this article, is not fit for printing here.
Bad language aside, I got the gist of what he was asking. He was asking whether I cared about my work and the work I did for my clients. I told him that I did, that I cared deeply, and his response, before he got back to criticizing another bad fly cast, was simple:
“There you go. If you give a crap, it’s gonna be stressful.”
I already knew that, of course, but the simplicity of his point helped put things in perspective. In order to do good work, we have to care. If we care, if we care about the quality of the work we do, and the outcomes that we achieve for our clients, our work in the law can be stressful. Finding ways to cope with that stress is good. Fishing continues to be one of my main coping mechanisms. I hope you have hobbies and activities that you enjoy and that help you to cope.
Another of my coping mechanisms over the years has been the OCBA and the camaraderie and relationships that the OCBA has helped me develop. I suspect I’m not alone.
The OCBA provides many opportunities to interact with other lawyers, members of our Paralegal Committee, judges, and others in what we hope is a welcoming and collegial atmosphere that can help take the edge off our adversarial system. We learn from each other, and about each other, and conversations at meetings and events often focus more on family and friends and other things outside the law that make life worth living. Here, we can interact as colleagues, not opponents.
One excellent example is the OCBA Inns of Court chapter, which exists to bridge the gap between law school and legal practice. The chapter, this year led by Chancellor and Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kameshia D. Gant, continues a centuries-old tradition of senior lawyers and judges helping educate newer lawyers on civility and practice skills. The Inns of Court provides tremendous opportunities for newer lawyers to interact with midlevel lawyers and senior lawyers and judges in skills-building exercises.
OCBA practice area committees are another great avenue for collegial interaction. Our practice area committees allow those who practice in a particular area, or simply have an interest in that subject, to meet, to discuss and learn about current issues and developments, and to interact with each other in a nonadversarial setting.
OCBA special purpose committees provide additional opportunities. One example is the OCBA’s Lawyers of a Certain Age (LOCA) Committee, currently chaired by the inimitable Judy Cunningham, which exists to serve the needs of OCBA members age 62 and older and for LOCA members to aid new lawyers with skills and mentorship.
LOCA is active, fun, and a tremendous resource for its members and those they mentor.
Opportunities abound within the OCBA to meet with colleagues, to learn, and to take the edge off the everyday stresses the practice of law can generate. I encourage you to get involved in the OCBA, and to take up fishing, or knitting, or reading, or whatever peaceful distraction calls your name.
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Dean M. Googasian, of The Googasian Firm PC, is the 92nd president of the Oakland County Bar Association.
Finding healthy ways to cope with those stresses is important. Hobbies can help. Some folks find solace in knitting, or reading, or painting or music. I fish.
My grandfather taught me to fish almost from the time I could walk. I treasure the memories he made with me, whether we were bobber fishing for bluegill in our pond or trolling and casting for walleye and perch in a lake we frequently visited in the remote north woods. Although he passed long ago, the love he gave me of fishing, the care he taught me for the environment, and the respect for the fish we caught continue to this day.
I am passable with spinning gear and mediocre at best with a fly rod, but I still fish and I am still learning. I try to get away for an extended trip at least once each year to get out in nature, far away from people and from cell service, and just fish.
A few years ago we had a preplanned trip that happened to occur while I was in the depths of several cases I found to be particularly stressful. I arranged to go flats fishing for a half-day with a local fishing guide on the island we were visiting. At one point, when he took a break from his pointed — but accurate — criticism of my fly-casting skills, he asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was a lawyer.
A little later, after I misplaced another cast, he asked me whether I liked being a lawyer. I didn’t answer right away. My stock answer to that question is that I love what I do, which is the truth. I represent injured people and their families, and I love and find great purpose in helping them. But that day, despite the setting and being far away from work geographically, I was still feeling the stress of it all, and I took a beat to think before answering. I eventually told the guide that while I love what I do, I was finding it to be very stressful.
He laughed, shook his head, then asked a simple question: “Do you give a crap?” In truth, he used more colorful language that, because my mother may read this article, is not fit for printing here.
Bad language aside, I got the gist of what he was asking. He was asking whether I cared about my work and the work I did for my clients. I told him that I did, that I cared deeply, and his response, before he got back to criticizing another bad fly cast, was simple:
“There you go. If you give a crap, it’s gonna be stressful.”
I already knew that, of course, but the simplicity of his point helped put things in perspective. In order to do good work, we have to care. If we care, if we care about the quality of the work we do, and the outcomes that we achieve for our clients, our work in the law can be stressful. Finding ways to cope with that stress is good. Fishing continues to be one of my main coping mechanisms. I hope you have hobbies and activities that you enjoy and that help you to cope.
Another of my coping mechanisms over the years has been the OCBA and the camaraderie and relationships that the OCBA has helped me develop. I suspect I’m not alone.
The OCBA provides many opportunities to interact with other lawyers, members of our Paralegal Committee, judges, and others in what we hope is a welcoming and collegial atmosphere that can help take the edge off our adversarial system. We learn from each other, and about each other, and conversations at meetings and events often focus more on family and friends and other things outside the law that make life worth living. Here, we can interact as colleagues, not opponents.
One excellent example is the OCBA Inns of Court chapter, which exists to bridge the gap between law school and legal practice. The chapter, this year led by Chancellor and Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kameshia D. Gant, continues a centuries-old tradition of senior lawyers and judges helping educate newer lawyers on civility and practice skills. The Inns of Court provides tremendous opportunities for newer lawyers to interact with midlevel lawyers and senior lawyers and judges in skills-building exercises.
OCBA practice area committees are another great avenue for collegial interaction. Our practice area committees allow those who practice in a particular area, or simply have an interest in that subject, to meet, to discuss and learn about current issues and developments, and to interact with each other in a nonadversarial setting.
OCBA special purpose committees provide additional opportunities. One example is the OCBA’s Lawyers of a Certain Age (LOCA) Committee, currently chaired by the inimitable Judy Cunningham, which exists to serve the needs of OCBA members age 62 and older and for LOCA members to aid new lawyers with skills and mentorship.
LOCA is active, fun, and a tremendous resource for its members and those they mentor.
Opportunities abound within the OCBA to meet with colleagues, to learn, and to take the edge off the everyday stresses the practice of law can generate. I encourage you to get involved in the OCBA, and to take up fishing, or knitting, or reading, or whatever peaceful distraction calls your name.
————————
Dean M. Googasian, of The Googasian Firm PC, is the 92nd president of the Oakland County Bar Association.
