Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Good News and the Bad News


On this trip to visit mom and dad, I decided to bring (and read) more of the books I purchased at the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals Forum last month.  The winning tome this time was Dan Ariely's The Upside of Irrationality.  In Chapter 2,  he writes about the meaning of labor, and in particular the pain of wasted labor.  When I read it, I felt like I had been hit with a sledgehammer.  The pain of wasted labor is one of the most difficult parts of life here in the Trenches.  What most of us who work here know is that a good 98% of all family law cases settle without judicial determination.  That means that at some point  between the time the client first walks in our door until the moment the judge takes the bench to start the trial, the case will more than likely settle.  That's great news for our clients.  It's really hard for us who work in the Trenches, because we know that human nature being what it is, most of these cases won't settle early, but will settle on the eve of trial.  We can't count on that, however, so we have to prepare as if the case will be tried.  We have to make sure we know what witnesses we are going to use, prepare their testimony and prepare them to testify.  We have to choose our exhibits, copy, and premark them.  We have to prepare an opening and a closing.  We have to anticipate and prepare for our opponent's case as well.  We do all of this, knowing that in all probability, none of this work will see the light of day, and that much of the effort will have no correlation to the ultimate settlement of the case.  In short, it will be meaningless.  Do this long enough, and it becomes really difficult to find the motivation to prepare for trial, and it is all but impossible to find joy and meaning in it.  We do it, though, because our clients need us to do it.  We invent sayings such as "If you want to settle, prepare for trial" (sorry, Sun Tzu!), in order to give meaning and purpose to what would otherwise be wasted money and effort.  We take time off and indulge in hobbies (like blogging) that give us a sense of accomplishment so that we can continue to do our jobs  and provide our clients with the level of representation they expect and deserve.  Here in the Trenches.

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