Rules of Thumb

My favorite bloggers have some gems this week that pertain directly to the work we do here in the Trenches.  As you know, I love Gretchin Rubin's, The Happiness Project blog, which is based on her book of the same name.  Yesterday, she talked about 5 common mental rules of thumb, and how those rules of thumb can cause us to incorrectly interpret the data our senses take in.  There's the recognition heuristic, the likelihood heuristic, the anchor and adjust heuristic, the fluency heuristic and the social proof.  I'm not going to talk about all of them, as Gretchen such a good job, and if you click on "5 common rules of thumb" up above, the web will take you right there.  The point is that here in the Trenches, all of those rules of thumb come into play with our clients and their ability to interpret data.  When you add the overlay of emotion we see here in the Trenches, what you have is a real interpretation mess.  Nowhere do we see that played out more often than with the "social proof."  That rule of thumb says that if "everyone" is doing it, it must be right, better, best.  Not only is that not true in real life, it is especially false here in the Trenches.  Just because a friend or neighbor got lifetime alimony, had a bad experience with lawyers, or was awarded full custody, doesn't mean this client will get those results.  Every case is different, from the facts of the client's life, to their personality and that of their spouse and children, to the interplay of the personalities of the clients, lawyers and judges, to the effect their friend and family witnesses have on the judge.  All those variables make it impossible for a lawyer to give a client any more than a rule of thumb as to what might happen in their case based on similar cases before.  That doesn't stop the client's mental rule of thumb from continuing to add layers and "facts" to arrive at an expected resolution.  Understanding the client's social proofs and successfully working with them and around them is a large part of what makes a good lawyer - here in the Trenches.