The Attorney's Office Tools
that the work will be done while you are busy with something else.
Do Plan For the Unexpected Let’s say that you have prioritized. You have used your
technology. Your desk is reasonably clean. And, you get a frantic phone call from a client and something must be done right away. Tat happens to all of us. If you have followed the advice early in this article, you will actually have time to devote to the crises associated with the practice of law. Sometimes a client is in the hospital or a former client calls with an immediate court date, or a new case, and you need to tend to that client right away. If you are organized you can work a new case into your portfolio. If you are behind the eight ball on three Motions for Summary Judgment, five sets of Interrogatories, and you have back to back jury trials approaching, you are going to be in deep trouble, and if a new client calls and needs prompt attention, you are really in trouble.
Do Make Reasonable Promises to Clients Delivering to your clients on promises you have made
is appreciated greatly by your clients. Not delivering on your promises really makes people mad. You must make reasonable promises by judging exactly how long it is going to take something to be done so you don’t say to your client “I will file this Class Action injunction in Federal Court in Madison, Wisconsin by tomorrow morning.” You have made an unreasonable promise and thereby have raised expectations unreasonably, a perfect formula for stress. On the other hand if you tell your client “I hope to file this district court suit in a week or so. I want to go over it carefully and make sure it’s right. I want to say exactly what we want it to say. I want to have other necessary papers ready to go, including Interrogatories and a 10-104 Statement. Ten we’ll be in a position of advantage over the other side and can push the case and will have everything ready for trial.” Te clients appreciate candor, and they appreciate organization. Tey want their cases to move quickly, but they don’t want their cases to move so quickly that there is a disaster. You can explain to them that preparing a case is like baking a cake. You don’t turn the oven on and break open the eggs if you have no flour yet.
Do Avoid Distractions Interruptions distract you from the matter at hand. Use
the do not disturb button on the telephone when you are trying to read an appellate case or put the finishing touches on a Motion for Summary Judgment or an appellate brief. A busy practitioner once said to me, “I feel that if I work for more
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1202 Annapolis Rd. 2nd Floor, Suite I Odenton, MD 21113 Trial Reporter / Spring 2010 13
than five minutes at one time on any one case I am cheating my other clients.” Initially, I thought that was funny. Soon I realized that what this lawyer was telling me was that he was grossly over-worked. He has since had at least six malpractice claims filed against him or which he settled quietly on his own, but he continues in a very busy practice. Some people would say his practice is successful because he earns a lot of money. Tis would not be said by the people whose cases are ignored by him because of his heavy work load. It wouldn’t be said by the clients who he represents whose cases are settled for 75% of their value because he is too busy to work the cases in the appropriate fashion. I wouldn’t measure success by his bottom line, but rather whether he achieves for his clients appropriate results.
Conclusion In short, if you adopt the above techniques, you’ll have
more time for your family and more time for your clients. You’ll have more income and less stress. You’ll have greater personal and professional fulfillment. Tere is time for everything. How do I know this? To quote the Don Cornell song lyric of 1955, “Because the Bible tells me so.” Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under the heaven.2
Biography Irwin E. Weiss is a sole practitioner. His
office is in Towson. Nearly all of his practice is civil litigation, about 85% for plaintiffs and 15% for defendants. He serves as a private arbitrator. Besides the active practice of law, he has lectured many times to the MAJ and serves on the MSBA Committee on Civil Pattern Jury Instructions. Trough good time management techniques, he finds time to travel, to play golf, to enjoy wine and food, to perform volunteer work for his synagogue, and to spend time with his family and friends. Full biography is available at:
www.irwinweiss.com/cv.htm.
2 Ecclesiastes, Chap. III, Verse 1 (translation from
www.chabad.org).
Dr. Thomas K. Hyland Robertson 410.305.1331 •
info@wholechiro.com
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