by Joseph V. Camerlengo
Ask yourself this question: Do you go to work most days, check the voice mails and e-mails, return phone calls, respond to demands of others and perform as much work as possible until you go home exhausted, only to return to work the next day to perform the same routine.
If so, you have joined the majority of “worker bee” attorneys in our society. We spend every day just trying to keep up with our work demands and rarely trying to improve the quality of our work. Remember the practice of law is a business. You should run your law career like an efficient business, spending your time and resources on the projects that have the most opportunity to the greatest return on investment.
Many wise attorneys in the twilight of their careers have advised young lawyers to be selective in choosing clients and cases. That advice is often ignored and sometimes difficult to follow. This is especially true when starting a law firm or trying to build a client base for partnership in an existing firm. Lawyers are judged not just by the cases they accept, but also by the cases they reject or, more importantly, should have rejected. If you review the clients and cases you signed up in 2003, I am certain there are several that you now wish you had rejected. For instance, cases involving problem or demanding clients and little chance of significant return on your most valuable asset (your time). Here’s a tip — fire them and make a note to steer clear of those cases or clients in the future.
Somewhere along the way many of us placed volume over substance. In our profession, less is more.
Given the constant stress and time pressures of managing a successful law career and family, we must find more quality time in our days. To do that, we need more quality cases and less volume.
I challenge each of you to take the time each day, each week, each month and each year to evaluate the quality and value of your work, rather than just how many hours you billed or dollars you collected. By increasing the quality of our time, we can make more money and reduce stress. Set short term and long term goals for what you hope to achieve in your career and personal life and frequently re-evaluate to see if you are on track to achieve those goals.
Do you really want to be that lawyer working 80 to 100 hours per week, 50 weeks per year in your 60’s? Focused personal and professional goals and a plan to achieve them will free you from the “bee hive.”