September 1999

We’re All in This Together

When one of my best friends was dying of lung cancer, I asked him what he had learned about life as its door began to close. He didn’t hesitate in saying, "Throughout our lives we are told that we are all in this (life) together. Right now, I feel like we are all in this alone."

I have thought a lot about what he said. How it fits or doesn’t fit in my life. How it fits or doesn’t fit in my profession.

When I opened my law practice, I felt I was totally alone. I assumed that every other lawyer understood how to keep his overhead down and successfully work with clients, and always knew the answer to his clients’ questions. My clients (whom I feared would stump me with their straightforward legal questions) and my colleagues (whom I thought could never be stumped by any legal question) were almost perceived as enemies. I believed I had somehow been chosen to be the only lawyer struggling with such issues. The dunce. Alone.

Then I got to know other practitioners. Shocking to me, I discovered they were dealing with the same issues. Some of their clients were happy with their services and some were not. Like me, they had huge accounts receivable. Some even asked for my input about issues. The more I spoke with my colleagues, the more I realized that we attorneys had more similarities than not. We were in the law business, with all its good and bad, ups and downs — together.

That feeling has been ratified daily in my practice. Very frequently I call a lawyer to bounce a question off him, or one calls me. I have dropped my practice to help colleagues in need, as they have done for me. When I went to Trial Lawyers’ College for a month, the lawyers in my office (and many others) took excellent care of my clients. Recently, two local lawyers had surgery. I, and many other attorneys, called and offered to assist with their practices during the recovery. It seemed natural. We are, when all is said and done, all in this life — and profession — together.

As much as I know this is true, many others don’t. And this is, from my view, a great benchmark of how one feels about practicing law. Some lawyers don’t pal around with other lawyers or have a support group of colleagues. They make mistakes or arguments before the court that a mentor or friend could help them avoid. They forge ahead, doing their best, without the benefit of any group experience or wisdom. Alone.

My belief that I am part of a community gives me strength, confidence and optimism. Help is always available if I need it. Those of my colleagues who believe each of us is alone in the profession are more frequently dissatisfied and at risk for burning out. The practice of law is a terribly hard business to bear alone. Those who feel part of a bigger group survive; many excel. The journey is at least palatable with company.

Law, at least the kind of law I practice, also gives me the team concept with clients. We go forward (usually, anyway) together. I see them at the store, the baseball field and the mall. My duty is to help them feel that they are not fighting a major issue in their life alone.

The rewards of working together stretch throughout a lawyer’s life. My son, Chris, has a delightful girlfriend. Our office has represented her great-grandparents, both of her grandparents and her parents. In many ways, she has been a part of my family (and I, hers) for decades.

Perhaps at the dusk of my life, or my practice, I will believe the words of my friend. Not now, though. There are too many lawyers to help and from whom to get help; too many clients to work with; too many adventures to have with my family; and too much life to live with others.

Together.

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