Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean they like you.
But why wouldn't they? After all, you are knowledgable, pleasant, enthusiastic, as well as being very smart and willing to work very, very hard.
The answer is this: they think you are expensive, inefficient, and irritating.
That perception is unfair, but there is a grain of truth to it. Ask a client, and they will tell you about a time when they have found themselves wading through a swamp of jargon, or caught in the crossfire of contradictory covenants, or had to pick their way through a paragraph filled with unexploded semicolons. They will tell you about a time when they told their lawyers to fire a warning shot, only to have them go berserk, demolish opposing counsel, irritate the counterparty, and nearly tank the deal. And they will tell you about times when they began reading a memo and realized that their lawyers fundamentally misunderstood the brief, and had made recommendations that were irrelevant, impractical, or downright absurd. So it's true: There are lawyers out there who charge a lot of money and don't deliver. There are lawyers who spend far too long worrying about things that aren't actually relevant. And there are lawyers out there who have a poor understanding of how clients think, and who are just generally painful to work with.
The good news is, you don't have to be one of those lawyers.
In fact, if you find yourself in a good team, working for a good mentor, you will pick up all the habits that make you a good lawyer, rather than an irritating one. And being a good lawyer is a perfectly respectable goal. You'll be appreciated by clients, you'll be respected by colleagues, and you'll be in reasonable demand. If you're happy to be a good lawyer, you close this browser window and get back to work (those hours ain't gonna bill themselves!)
But if you are aiming a little higher, you'll have started to notice that there are a few lawyers who don't settle for just being good lawyers. They seem to have the inside scoop on what clients are thinking. They always seem to be working on matters that are particularly interesting or important. And when you hear them talk, they sound less like lawyers and more like bankers or management consultants. What's the deal?
Well, it turns out there is such a thing as a great lawyer, and we clients love them. We trust them, we rely on them, and we save their numbers on our mobile phones. And we also save the most interesting, most challenging, and most lucrative work for them. Why do we love great lawyers? Because we know that while good lawyers can get things done, great lawyers can take a step back and understand why those things need to be done in the first place. We know that great lawyers speak the language of business, as well as the language of law. We know that great lawyers know how to keep things simple and how to keep things moving. Above all, great lawyers understand that the purpose of a business is to create value, and that their job is to help the business to do that.
If you want a client's perspective on what makes a great lawyer, and some suggestions on how to become one, keep reading...