legal sanity

As we were driving from one weekend activity to the next in our small New York suburb, my middle child looked up from her cell phone and, in an iPod-induced-too-loud-voice, said, “I love this town. It’s pretty, friendly and makes me feel safe.” I think she gave voice to what many of us feel and experience in our personal and professional lives.

When people engage lawyers – especially in contentious matters - they often arrive at our door feeling unsafe and insecure. As much as they want our legal advice and guidance, they’re also expecting that we’ll help them gain/regain a sense of safety and security. The problem is that many lawyers are unaware of their clients’ emotional needs. As a result, clients quickly frustrate and the attorney-client relationship becomes stressful and unproductive all around.

One good solution stems from knowing what it means to be a village lawyer. Put a bit differently, lawyers benefit from understanding what millions of people, including my daughter, so positively respond to about the villages in their lives. With that knowledge and understanding, we can focus on figuring out how to recreate that village sensibility for our clients’ (and our own) benefit. 

Addressing this topic, one of my favorite bloggers, Sonia Simone, writes that it’s a great time to start and nurture a village business.

While village businesses aren’t bound by brick and mortar or geographical limits, they are “personal, intimate, and human-scaled” and “serve a relatively small number of people.” Even if you’re a lawyer in a large firm, you can still be a village lawyer because you’re likely dealing with a small number of clients. As village lawyers, we share a common bond with our clients because we understand and relate to their common needs, interests and concerns.

When it comes to client service, Simone notes the importance of giving people “a place to get together. To know you better, and know one another better.” We can accomplish this virtually or face-to-face.

If you’re excited by the prospect of creating an online community for your villagers, you’ll find some thought-provoking considerations in this Social media Strategy Checklist by ClickZ’s Sean Carton. Chris Brogan enhances the dialogue by detailing 5 Things Small Business Owners Should Do Today Online.

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These last days of Summer, my kids are busy reuniting with friends and preparing for school. (Shockingly, I now have a middle- and high-schooler in the trio.) Their don’t-quite-know-what-to-do stir craziness is ironclad proof of the change that’s in the air. Truth is, it’s hard to segue into the Fall. The more laid-back Summer is a welcome respite from the normal work-life routine.

During my recent vacation, I had the chance to go through the virtual folder where I store ideas for blog posts. Here’s a sampling that resonated for me as I prepared to return home and re-engage my solo law practice. I hope it gives you a bit of fuel for the seasonal transition. As always, if you have any other ideas or stories to share, please send them along.

At Harvard Business, Peter Bregman tells us how we can benefit professionally by ignoring our gut and pausing before reacting. If you’re in the throes of a career change (or just fantasizing about a new day job) you can add a soundtrack to your endeavors courtesy of Steven DeMaio’s wonderful Quitter’s Playlist.

With a compelling visual aid, Spike at Brains on Fire reminds us that, more often than not, it’s the little things that make companies (and the people behind them) remarkable.

Over at AmEx’s Open Forum, Chris Brogan offers some great pointers for improving our email communications while Matthew E. May gives us some insight into honing our observation skills.

Those of you who find business inspiration in great design will enjoy this Fast Company selection of Tasty Design Treats for the Fall. And, if you happen to have lost touch with your inner child this Summer, Jenny Williams will help you reacquaint in the cool Fall air via her Wired article on 30 Classic Games for Simple Outdoor Play.

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I’ve been interested in psychologist Daniel Goleman’s work since reading his book on Emotional Intelligence years ago.

Along with thinkers like:

Dan Pink 

Hugh MacLeod 

Kathy Sierra 

Chris Brogan

Tim Sanders 

Pam Slim 

Goleman has inspired me to look at the legal profession through a broader social-cultural lens.

As a culture, we’re becoming more and more right-brained in orientation. We now place a premium on authenticity, emotion, creativity, meaning and honesty in our personal and professional interactions.

In a recent post for Harvard Business, Goleman writes that consumers are calling for a new kind of openness - a radical transparency that “converts the chains that link every product and its multiple impacts — carbon footprints, chemicals of concern, treatment of workers and the like — into a force that counts in sales.”

To keep up with this demand, Goleman notes, businesses should engage their consumer community (in the law, this would be a firm’s clients, lawyers and non-legal staff) and make it easy for community members to offer feedback and comments. If they drop the ball on this front, big brother is ready to step up in the form of open mike watchdog sites like GetSatisfaction.com.

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