It is good to be back! I would love to tell you that I took August off to veg out on a tropical island and sip Mai Tais. But, alas, no such luck. I am deep into wedding planning for our daughter’s October wedding. For me, it is a “first” and a joy, and I am both amazed by the complexity of the task and also delighted to have the opportunity to create this wonderful day in all of our lives.
Don’t worry. I have not gone sappy on you. Yes, I now know a lot more about caterers and flowers and wedding music than ever before, but that is not why I share this with you. This year of wedding planning has made me even more aware of the power of being organized and the positive role it can play in all of your lives, and I want you to understand how it works. For example, without the strong organizational skills that I learned along the way, we would either be having a wedding with a Best Friends at the Bar theme OR you would be reading about catering menus on the BFAB blog. Getting it mixed up just does not work!
As lawyers, we need to be organized to survive. Although a cluttered desk may be the sign of a creative mind, being disorganized beyond the messy desk is not a good idea.
If there is one thing that partners do not want to see in associates—and that judges do not want to see in litigants— and that in-house counsel do not want to see in outside counsel—it is disorganization. On the contrary, they want to be confident that there is a plan, that the plan is being executed in a logical and efficient way and that there is an end in sight.
To survive and to flourish in the law, we must learn to be organized, from our days in law school—remember those pesky outlines??—to our days as practitioners, for the sake of our careers and our clients. We should err on the side of organization for everything because we have studied Murphy’s Law, and we know that bad stuff is bound to happen. So it is better to be ready for it!
Years ago, in the days when I was chairing galas to benefit women and children’s charities, my husband told people that it was like “falling off a log” for me because I was a trial lawyer. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was well-intended.
Recently, that same husband—I have only had one!—was heard to say that he could not understand all the “hoopla” about the wedding planning because I certainly could organize a wedding if I could organize a trial. Well, this time I had to take issue with him because there is a big difference—like the fact that, if you do not get through questioning a witness one day, you can continue your questioning the next day. The wedding, however, is over in one day and needs to run like an Amtrak train schedule.
However, my well-intended husband was right in the broader sense. The organizational skills you learn as a lawyer have important applications throughout your life. That is probably why many lawyers also go on to become successful business people. They have learned that letting things fall through the cracks as a lawyer is unacceptable and will either get you fired or help you lose your case.
So, get your act together! File the stacks of paper in the corner of your office so that you—-and others—-can find documents and correspondence when you need them. Make a course or trial outline early and expand on it as time goes forward instead of waiting until the 11th hour and “winging it” to the detriment of your grade, your career and your client.
Prepare check lists and execute on them, make a TO DO list for the following day before you turn off the light or leave the office and put it front and center on your desk to greet you in the morning. Fill out your time logs EVERY DAY so that you are not picking your brain for hours at the end of the month or—God forbid—indulging in some “creative billing” because you just do not have a clue what you did two weeks ago.
Who knows how these organizational skills will enrich your life? You might get lucky, like me, and use them for charitable ventures or to plan your only daughter’s wedding. You should be so lucky……………..
