If I were a client and had to pick a lawyer I’d ask only one question. Can you tell me what that question is? I didn't think so. When you know the questions to ask you'll then be ready to take on a client's legal work.

Yesterday I wrote about the young lawyers coming into this tough job market and whining about not having a J-O-B in the law field. The more I thought about it the clearer became one reason why some aren’t working.

If you’ve been handed a participation trophy your entire youthful life you have a flawed character.

When approaching your work life with the mentality of first asking when you get a participation trophy the character flaw becomes well established. Being an old coach I can’t stomach anyone asking for a participation trophy. Those disdainful pieces of useless plastic that collect dust also have a way of fostering the wrong kind of character. Telling a loser they are winners just for showing up, no matter how hard they tried, reinforces that a loser mentality is something to be rewarded. Guess what? If you lose then act like a man and recognize how lousy it feels to be a loser so you’ll work harder to win the next time. Losing is part of life; it's one of life's lessons and by losing you learn to develop the kind of character that makes you into a winner. Losing is essential when learning how to win.  Winners know how to win, because they've lost and then picked themselves up, dusted off their egos and then learned to be winners. It’s that simple.

So let’s get back to our profession, otherwise known as the practice of law. No lawyer in his or her right mind would ever hand over the reins of a case to a lawyer that hadn’t ever tried a case. Clients and cases don’t come free or just because you wish they would; there is a cost of time, energy and learning to develop and then market one’s reputation that creates value in the relationships clients seek in a lawyer. Winning isn’t free nor is it handed to you by a judge or jury. As Professor Kingsfield would say, “they earn it.” And so must you because it’s that diligent effort over time that produces a steady stream of clients. Here is Professor Kingsfield, the picture is fuzzy but his statement about old fashioned hard work is timeless.

If you had a case, would you want someone with your experience handling it?

Some young lawyers aren't willing to do the hard work that will help them develop the skills trial lawyers require. You can't turn your nose up at the prospect of handling fish files for a few years while you learn the ropes. It’s those fish files that are going to provide you with opportunity that will allow you to learn the tools of the trade. Turn that opportunity down and you might as well be sitting on the can reading People Magazine because that’s what the time you wasted is worth.

How must new lawyers approach the profession?

• Wake up early and get into the office early.
• Bring work home with you every night.
• When in the office, stay off the Internet and work.
• Turn off your cell phone and do the work you’re being paid to do.
• Return all calls to clients.
• Set up and use a file system for both paper and electronics.
• Prepare, prepare and then prepare some more.
• Don’t turn down any opportunity to try a case or argue a motion.
• In the first five years take a thousand depositions until you can do them in your sleep.
• Don’t ask for a raise, if you’re doing the work you’ll get one.
• Wake up every day hating to be poor.
• Hate to lose. And after you learn to hate to lose; develop more hate for losing.
• Be courteous to your opponents but don’t be a pushover. If they push, then push back.

It’s not about winning; it’s about not losing.

Don’t ever expect or ask for a participation trophy; because winners want to win one and only loser will accept one.

A lawyer’s work ethic in and out of the courtroom is the same as a soccer player’s work ethic on and off the field. Winners know how to win; losers know how to whine. There are no small games because in every game there is a winner and loser. You can’t play the game if you don’t show up and if you expect to be handed a paycheck when you didn’t earn it that’s no different than asking for a participation trophy. 

Maybe you should be paid what you're worth. Do you think? With no skills what are you worth?

The clients’ reality is they want to win and a new lawyer is the last person they want handling their case. Before you are ready to have the privilege of handling their case you need to prove your worth by learning this craft. That means taking depositions, drafting motions, arguing motions, preparing pleadings, drafting discovery answering, preparing clients for presentation of testimony, interviewing witnesses and doing everything else that goes into preparation of a case.

So what is the answer to the original question?

If I were a client and had to pick a lawyer I’d ask one question: Are you the kind of lawyer that likes to win or hates to lose? You can only pick one either liking to win or hating to lose. Now pick.

Winners hate to lose. And when they win they don't stand around waiting for the accolades, back slapping and congratulations. Instead they get back in their office and start to work on the next case. Because more than anything else they hate to lose. And as a client sooner or later you’re the next case after the win and you want that lawyer in his office working on your case so you don’t lose. So the answer is, I'm that kind of person (lawyer) that hates to lose. I could care less about the win, it's all about not losing.

Accept it, the fact is that Matt Damon’s character in The Rainmaker was pure fiction.

Do you really think Matt Damon's movie roles were all for A-List movies?

Dave Dutton is a fine attorney in Waterloo, Iowa. As a young lawyer chasing after him, we would run over the lunch hour where he would impart pearls of wisdom. One day he said, “A lawyer once told me that in trial practice you’ll have the highest highs and the lowest lows. So don’t get too high or too low about any one case’s outcome.” For 30 years I’ve taken that advice to heart.

Now get back to your office and get to work. Onward we march.