The Greatest American Lawyer

I Could Be an Idiot, but You Would Never Know It Because I Look Good In a Suit

Me and the boys are out cruising downtown Saturday night in Traverse City Michigan.  At 6:46, a guy is coming across the street.  He has cropped well-groomed hair.  His appearance is All-American, and he’s wearing a suit with a green accented tie and white stuffed shirt. As attorneys in Traverse City Michigan, we don't see nearly as many suits on attorneys and lawyers  as most other places. 

I immediately stopped the conversation which was occurring in the car to show the boys.  It occurred to me they had never actually seen it before and had no idea.  I pointed with my finger extended and said, “LOOK!”

This guy stood out for a number of reasons, not the least of which is we live in Traverse City where stuffed suits are few and far between.   The bankers and the “high-end” lawyers definitely wear suits most all the time.

I explained to the boys in careful measured tones that I used to have to dress like that every day.  I thought about the comfort of my jeans and my relaxed shirt and the black crocs I wore over socks because of the recent chilly weather.  It even struck me that I spent almost a decade dressed almost every day in a suit and tie.

The guy looked pretty nice, but it occurred to me that the whole point of the suit and tie is to try and impress the client.  If you put a whole bunch of suit and ties together in a room, the importance of the room increases numerically with the number of ties.

It also occurred to me that at least half of these people might very well be idiots, but you would never know because they have a fancy haircut and very nice suit.  In a way, it’s outright fraud.  There ought to be some sort of regulations that have to be met if you want to wear a suit, but that post is for another day.  Me and the boys are going into Right Brain Brewery, play same games, drink some root beer and revel in the fact that their dad never wears a suit.

A Surefire Way Not to Get Nominated for the Supreme Court

I want to thank Eric Goldman at http://blog.ericgoldman.org/ for posting the article "Five Lawyer Ads That Make Any Supreme Court Candidate Look Brilliant" to Facebook and making us aware of it.  These are people who will definitely not be nominated by President Obama to become future Supreme Court Justices.  It's gentlemen like this who give good attorneys bad names. 

Revisiting The Issue Of Why Lawyers Wear Suits

In a recent post titled “Why Do Lawyers Wear Suits”, we playfully explored the idea of the importance – or lack thereof – of a suit and tie for legal professionals.  The post drew some interesting commentary warranting a re-posting of the article here!

Are suits just another example of “form over substance” for lawyers and law firms?  I haven’t worn a suit in five years, except to court.  I deal with very powerful and important clients, as well as average business people and layman.  Clients feel more comfortable when they’re not sitting across from a stuffed suit.  No client has ever been taken aback by the fact that I wasn’t wearing a suit.  In fact, more often than not, neither were they. 

The concept that lawyers need to wear suits to meet their client’s expectations is ridiculous in most instances.  Clients aren’t that stupid.  They want good lawyers and good results.  They don’t care if their legal professional is wearing nothing but underwear while they accomplish those results. 

Are Solo Practitioners A More Difficult Lot Than Big Law Partners?

Paul Schorn over at the Texas Lawyer and as republished at law.com, has provided his instructions for the care and feeding of solos.  This is a fairly comical article, no doubt written a bit tongue in cheek, however, it does raise the issue as to whether or not solo practitioners are solo for a reason.  Are solos really tougher personality types than most other attorneys?

Only a fool or a saint would marry a lawyer. We tend to be argumentative, rule-oriented, competitive and stressed out, hardly the makings of an easy mate. The maxim is twice as true when applied to solo practitioners. We are a colorful lot; however, the solitary nature of our work can make us even more closed-off than other lawyers, while our lack of professional support can make us even more needy. If we were easy to work with, we'd probably have law partners.

The most interesting part of the article are the recommendations by Mr. Schorn.  Schorn provides recommendations concerning the care and feeding of the solo practitioner by that solos significant other, broken down by categories of financial support, social support, mental health support and miscellaneous other. 

Are solos really solo for the reason that their tougher to get along with?  Let me know your thoughts…

Do Law Firms Operate on Principles of Capitalism or Totalitarianism?

I was having a beer at Right Brain Brewery last night with a friend who graduated from law school and then went to work for a large corporation.  We talked a little politics, both local and national, and about large corporations-both law firms and other companies.  Chris noted that his biggest disappointment as he rode up through the corporate ranks was his realization that most of the people at the top were idiots.  What kind of incentive system have we put in place when the most conniving, connected, egomaniacal and self-absorbed people often are the ones who run the show.