ACYL Side Bar
Looking Out for
Number One
By J. Wickliffe Cauthorn
Cauthorn Nohr & Owen
[email protected]
A
wise old lawyer once told me the longer you practice
law, the more you come to realize that your true
friends and allies in this business are other lawyers.
The legal profession is a long game. There are no overnight
successes. Clients will come and go, but you have to deal
with other lawyers and judges over and over.
refuse every extension, or worse, make it personal with
opposing counsel. This litigation strategy only works if you
only plan on practicing with one law firm or representing one
client for your entire career. Over the years, you will find
that if you burn enough bridges, you will find yourself on an
island.
The implication of this argument is that all of the
professionalism advice that has been pounded into our
heads for years is true. But
regardless of whether lawyers
should be professional and
collegial to one another,
the real point the wise old
lawyer was making is that
your career relies upon your
relationships. Forget just
being
professional
and
reasonable
with
fellow
brothers and sisters at the
bar; you need to remember
to cultivate your relationships
because you need to look out
for number one.
You’ve got to look out for number one. You’ve got to play
the long game. The long game requires being not just
“Young lawyers have a lot of pressure
from many different sides: the firm, clients,
and family. Two of these three, work and
clients, can push you to do things that feel
right at the time, but may be wrong for you
in the long run...”
Young lawyers have a lot of
pressure from many different sides: the firm, clients, and
family. Two of these three, work and clients, can push you to
do things that feel right at the time, but may be wrong for you
in the long run. That’s where the title of this column comes
in; every moment of your career, you’ve got to look out for
number one. Number one may not be you, it may be your
family, it may mean your principles, or it may be your career.
Your firm probably expects you to make your clients happy,
and your clients probably expect you to use any means
necessary to achieve their goals; often, you will encounter
conflict between the firm, your clients, and number one. I
don’t mean a conflict of interest in the legal sense. The typical
situation is when a firm or a client wants a lawyer to use
the scorched earth method of litigation: contest everything,
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
professional, but also collegial with your fellow brothers and
sisters at the bar. There are going to be other cases; there
are going to be other matters that need addressing; and there
will be times when you need to lean on your colleagues.
There will be times when you will need a favor.
As you progress through your career, you will have to make
many decisions between doing exactly what your client
wants and looking out for number one. When it comes time
to make those decisions, make the one that makes the most
sense in the long run. Look out for number one.
May 2015
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
15