Spread A Little Love:
Being pleasant and considerate is part of being a professional
By Daniel E.Cummins
Special to the Law Weekly
DanCummins@comcast.net
The New Year is still in its early stages and, less than one month in, it's not too late to renew those resolutions you may have already broken.
With Valentine's Day approaching, consider the following ways to resolve to spread a little love in and out of your practice in the month of February and beyond:
Express Appreciation to Your Staff
Day in and day out your staff shows up to type your verbose and, at times, pompous-sounding legal dictation, replete with legalese and, at times, even Latin. Did you ever stop and wonder what they ever did in life to deserve the fate of listening to this drivel?
Daily expressions of gratitude towards your staff are warranted, for without them, your office could not function. Throw out a "nice job," "thanks for keeping up with the dictation," or "I appreciate you taking the initiative on that." Always say "please" and "thank you."
Return Phone Calls
It's rude not to return phone calls, even to those we'd rather not deal with. If you owe a return phone call that you are dreading, return it even if it means leaving a voice mail after hours in the hopes of not reaching the recipient. In the alternative, respond in writing if possible. Remember, every communication brings you one step closer to the end of that case and the end of dealing with that frustratingly aggravating attorney or client.
Show Interest in Others
See the person behind your opposing counsel -- and I don't mean their client. Take an interest in them. Ask about their family, their hobbies, their vacations or their life outside of work.
Be complimentary to others. One way is to make it a habit of complimenting other people's neckties where warranted. More often than not the person wearing the tie spent time picking it out and will appreciate it being noticed. It's probably best, however, not to point out the speck of mustard on the tie.
Be Considerate About Technology
Be considerate in communicating with others and ignore your cell phone or Blackberry when conversing. Answering your cell phone or constantly looking at your Blackberry while someone is talking to you is rude and signals that you are not interested in what they have to say. Why should they then have any interest in you or what you have to say?
Whatever is coming through to you on your portable device will still be there when your in-person conversation is over. Improve your interpersonal dealings with others by giving them your undivided attention.
Smile
In Dale Carnegie's classic book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," recommended here as an annual assignment for enjoyment and self-improvement, it is suggested that you greet everyone you contact with a smile. It shows you are friendly, welcomes and relaxes the recipient and opens them up to accepting the information you have to present to them.
Grant Professional Courtesies
Grant professional courtesies to others on a routine basis, as recommended by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Rules on Professionalism. Remember, what goes around, comes around. Routinely sending out good karma may come back to you two-fold in the future when you most need it.
Show Gratitude to Your Spouse
Show some appreciation to your spouse or significant other for living with the demands of your chosen profession and for putting up with your jealous mistress (or gentleman caller), The Law. Take him or her out to dinner unexpectedly. Stay home on a Saturday. Throw in a little humor -- maybe even show your spouse some deference by beginning requests with, "May it please the spouse."
Think about the total energy, dedication and attention you put into trial preparation. When not bogged down by a trial or a deadline, refocus that energy and dedication on your family and friends. Aren't they just as worthy, if not more so, of that type of attention from you?
Take Care of Yourself
Take pains to make yourself more "lovable" (well -- we're lawyers -- let's try for "likeable") by purposefully getting away from the practice of law, whether it be on vacation or simply "me" time with friends and family. Exercise away the frustrations of the practice of law. Play hooky and take a "mental health" day and do something you enjoy that maybe you haven't done in years. Read good prose for enjoyment's sake. It may even serve to help your own writing abilities.
Efforts to escape and focus on yourself on occasion, along with the other good habits noted above, can only result in easing the stress of this profession, make you a more enjoyable person to be around and may even serve to increase your productivity as an attorney.
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Daniel E. Cummins is a partner and civil litigator with the Scranton law firm of Foley, Cognetti, Comerford, Cimini & Cummins. Cummins' civil litigation blog, "Tort Talk," may be viewed at http://www.torttalk.com/.
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