What Have You Done Lately?

With age comes a certain retrospection. I have had many conversations over the years with lawyers that enjoy outstanding reputations and success in this community. But what drew them here? I have yet to meet someone that went to college with the dream of practicing in workers' compensation. It is fraught with opportunity, uncertainty, and challenges. An old pilot once told me that his profession was marked by long, boring repetitions punctuated with moments of sheer terror. Is litigation really any different? 

Everyone that has done this for very long has experienced the terror of a client that is not “straightforward” with their lawyer. In hopes of protecting your client’s best interest, the practice is to delve into many facts and conclusions. This profession drives home the message that one does not want to be surprised at trial. And each strives against that potential. Despite your best efforts, everyone is likely periodically surprised.

Every lawyer has likely had that moment during testimony when the expert testifies to “X,” and that is unexpected or even shocking. Quickly rifling through the records or report, there is an antic effort to find that sentence, notation, or mark that had led to other expectations from this witness, that the testimony would in fact have been “Y.” Through our misinterpretation or the witness's change in direction, one is somewhat suddenly at least not as prepared as expected, and perhaps with a hole in the boat that needs immediate attention (whether the testimony is in deposition or trial, immediate attention). 

There have been those moments when one becomes flustered, and our rifling for some reference for cross-examination bears no fruit. Each has arrived at trial with a red-rope full of depositions, only to realize the one we need is on our breakfast table from either a late night or an early morning. Has anyone ever had their opponent surprise them with a newly discovered witness days before (or at) trial? Perhaps someone has experienced an opposing counsel who takes a path less traveled (an inappropriate, and thus unexpected, one)?

Our minds are preset to order and the plan, whatever that is. Through instinct or training, lawyers are adept at making lists, organizing materials, and memorizing minutia. The process drives up blood pressure, diminishes eyesight, tarnishes the most treasured relationships, and (sigh) makes one look and perhaps feel old. The litigation practice is challenging and draining. 

Then the retrospection comes. Was some example of failing or fault really critical or did we just beat ourselves up in overreaction? Was that opposing counsel treacherous, or did we leap to that conclusion from our own tired, overworked, frustration at her/his honest surprise and late disclosure? Are we taking care of ourselves, eating right, exercising, and sleeping? Is it what the practice does to lawyers or what lawyers let the practice do? Many fail to take care of themselves, or worse. I have seen a great many fine lawyers seek solutions in all the wrong places, alcohol, drugs, and more. 

The answers are likely different for each of us if they are even indeed answers. Lawyers will struggle in workers' compensation or any practice. They will find rewards, intrinsic and otherwise, over the course of years. They will meet exceptional people and likely a scoundrel or two. They will each make errors and misjudgments (why did I put that in evidence?). They will have good days and bad. At some point, each will likely take a shortcut or path less traveled, whether from desperation or less. And in retrospect, you may find that the bad days are harder to remember than some of the good (congratulations if that is so).

I found myself frequently befriended for no reason early in my career. Good people helped me with many skills I lacked. I was mentored by people who had no reason or expectation for their devotion. I was also (at least from my perspective) mistreated by people against whom I had done no harm. Looking back there were good and not-so-good. And, in the end, I find that it was overall an outstanding journey.

At some point in your career, you can turn and look back. I find myself doing that lately. I find solace in reminiscence. I find comfort in missing friends past. I find myself more patient and forgiving than ever I was in the practice of law. And, I more readily notice the positive attributes of others, juxtaposed with their particular challenges. I wonder at some of the unethical and inappropriate behavior I see, and struggle to understand what drives or motivates it. I fear for the ultimate destination of those who start down the path with minor and infrequent moral and personal lapses, I perceive that those detours may become more frequent, more significant, and ultimately perhaps even self-destructive. 

One of the great benefits of reaching milestones is that you might lend yourself back to those who follow. You can be the mentor that you had (or wished you did). You can show interest in some stressed young addition to this community of ours; bestow some nostalgia or advice with the young practitioners of today. Invest in the next generation as it matures before you, taking on the challenges anew that you railed against in your own youth. But, we seem increasingly isolated and alone. There are those who blame the pandemic, technology, and generational differences. There is plenty to blame. But, beyond the blame, what have you done lately?

I see great opportunities for that today. In my day, there was no workers’ compensation Inn of Court. Today, Florida has 5 (Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Ft. Pierce).  Throughout the state, we have scores of seasoned practitioners taking interest in that next generation. I was recently at a bar gathering, and I ran into an attorney that had brought his young associate with him; thus, an effort to inculcate an appreciation for the value of the community, of connection, of personal interaction. When is the last time you took a young person to such a function and made introductions? When is the last time you sought out such a person at a function or even took the time to attend a function?

If you are a young attorney, ask yourself when is the last time a partner took you somewhere that broadened your horizons? When was the last time you expressed an interest and even suggested you might be interested in such an event, meeting, or gathering? This is a two-way street, and the youth must strive for such opportunities just as the rest of us must strive to offer them. It is imperative that human interaction return to the practice of law. The perils of distance, texting, email, and more are increasingly obvious. The practice requires humanity, connection, and interaction.  

We too much hunker in our offices or homes, and attend events by phone. We recognize it is an economic reality, but still. People text with “friends” or follow them on Facebook, but do we really communicate? The practice of law is a community, and whether it thrives or not is ultimately up to you. Professionalism and the existence of a profession lie in the balance. At the risk of redundancy, what have you done lately?

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