Is Work/Life Balance Inconsistent With Excellence to Clients?
In most of us, there exists a Type-A overachiever who would work 24 hours a day fighting on behalf of our clients, if we let that part of us take over. We like to win, we like to be the best and we are willing to sacrifice to make that happen. It’s what got us through law school, after all. At least that’s the case for me.
But somewhere along the way, I woke up and realized this is the one life I’ve got (at least that I’ll remember) and I’d better make it a great one or I’m going to look back years from now and be full of regret.
Apparently, that wake-up call hasn’t come for Scott Greenfield, a criminal defense lawyer in NY, who calls those of us who want more out of life the “Slackoisie” because apparently we are slackers if we want to have a life and a law firm.
Before I rebut the substance of Scott’s argument, I’ve got to take a minute to comment about Scott’s statement that I am full of disgustingly sweet goo and utterly devoid of substance. I LOVE it. Thank you, Scott.
I love being sweet and, as for the utterly devoid of substance … well, I don’t pull this out there very often, but I DID graduate first in my class from Georgetown Law and worked at Munger, Tolles & Olson for three years before starting my own firm. I DID build my law firm into a 7-figure law firm in only three years by creating a brand new business model and I DID sell that law firm and I DO now help hundreds of lawyers around the United States become the lawyers they’ve always wanted to be and love their business again while enjoying work/life balance.
So, you can say what you want about me, but maybe come up with something better than utterly devoid of substance.
The fact of the matter is that guys like Scott Greenfield are stuck in an old paradigm. A paradigm based on a broken business model. Yes, under the old paradigm, work/life balance is NOT possible. I discovered this myself working first for a big law firm and then after starting my own firm and building it the way the “successful” lawyers told me I should and realizing it was going to stick me with insane hours and not really make a difference in my clients’ lives.
Unfortunately, outdated lawyers who want to justify their misery must resort to name calling of anyone who longs for something more and knows that it’s possible to have it all without compromising client well-being. They whine that instead of embodying “professionalism, responsibility and duty,” the desire for work- life balance is nothing more than a quest for “the magic bullet that will enable[you] to achieve success in the absence of inconvenient effort.”
Lawyers are under more stress than ever, many turning to drugs and alcohol to deal with it. While it’s true there is no magic bullet to success, it can happen much more quickly and easily than Greenfield and his brethren would like you to believe. It’s going to take you a huge amount of effort, but you are going to put in the effort one way or another, so why not put it in bucking the norm and creating something new and unique that will allow you to have it all and take great care of your clients while you do it.
At the end of the day it comes down to this: Clients are far better served by a lawyer who uses technology to the max, has learned how to systematize their practice, and utilizes a team to support her clients than by a lawyer who stuck in the old, broken model. And, yes, it’s quite likely this lawyer will be found on Twitter and be enjoying a very nice work/life balance.
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