What do you want your lawyer to be? Hired gun? Technician? Negotiator? Legal Counselor?
What determines which lawyer you should hire?
Often a person hires a lawyer before thinking about exactly what he needs the lawyer to do. You want the lawyer to “represent” you. But what does that mean? In different situations, lawyer are called on to do different things. Many times, people hire the wrong kind of lawyer for the situation. The 2015 Super Bowl and its classic finish gave us key insight on how to choose your lawyer.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick often talks about “situational” football. Most fans overlook this, instead focusing on who is the best this or the strongest that, and who will outplay whom. But situational awareness is a critical component to a team’s preparedness. Great coaches prepare players for whatever situation arises, teach them how to recognize it and to know what to do when they see it on the field.
Tom Brady is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play football. He doesn’t have the strongest arm, isn’t very fast or agile and has never been a scrambling runner for yardage. As the football world knows all too well, he was drafted in the sixth round, the 199th player chosen that year. Six quarterbacks were picked before Brady. But what makes Brady so valuable is that he immediately recognizes a situation when he sees it and knows exactly how to respond to it.
This 2015 Super Bowl was a classic example of the victory of situational knowledge. A coach recognizes that the other team is banking on him calling a time out so he chooses not to call one, throwing the other side into confusion and time pressure. He calls a defensive formation that will result in the other team opting for the offensive play that results in a turnover. A rookie sees a formation, reads his opponent’s eyes, and knows from weeks of preparation what the play is going to be and responds to it perfectly.
It wasn’t the strongest running back, the most mobile quarterback, the most gifted defensive back, or the stoutest defense that that determined the outcome of the game. It was recognizing the situation, being prepared for it and knowing exactly what to do. Situational football gave the New England Patriots the championship and the Seattle Seahawks a few months after the fact to ponder the couldas, shouldas and wouldas.
Situational. Life is like that. The most successful people are usually not the smartest, the strongest, the most persistent, or the ones with the most resources at their fingertips. Those who succeed recognize a situation for what it is, have prepared for it, know what to do and do it.
The legal profession is also situational. Some situations call for litigators and litigation. Some require contracts lawyers or transactional lawyers. There are circumstances that require skilled negotiators. There are aspects of law that call for lawyers to be experts in a particular code or set of regulations. Sometimes what a client needs most is some wise, well-grounded legal counsel.
But too often, people don’t choose their lawyers to fit their situation. They usually go on a recommendation from a friend or relative. Without enough situational thought, they hire a transactional lawyer to handle a situation that involves violations of laws. Or they hire a litigator when they need a good contract lawyer, or a divorce lawyer for an employment dispute. They retain a scorched earth hired gun when they need a tactful negotiator.
Choosing a good lawyer is not about getting the “best in the business”, or “the toughest son of a gun out there”, or an intellectual from a top law school, or a big, downtown firm. Picking the right lawyer happens because a person understands the situation and finds the lawyer that recognizes it and knows what will work best in that situation.
The best negotiator or mediator in the business won’t help if you if what you need in the situation is someone who knows what motion to file in what court, how to file it and what to state in it. The top intellectual lawyer in the state may be of little value when the lawyer you need for your building project is one who knows how a certain town’s officials operate, who in that town makes the decisions and what zoning law to rely on. The expert on how to use Collaborative Law’s procedures in a dispute won’t be of any value if she didn’t have the presence of mind to see that the situation needed a preliminary step or two before the door to using Collaborative Law was opened.
Situational law. If you are about to choose a lawyer, don’t overlook it. Or you will soon learn what it feels like to be “sleepless in Seattle.”
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