Attorney Coaching

The 5 Lies Lawyers Have Bought Into: Lie Number 3 - You Must Be Available 24/7.

Cell phone. Text message. Email. Lions. Tigers. Bears. Oh my!


I think Steve Jobs was a genius, but part of me absolutely despises him for being what I view of the enabler of the lie all lawyers are told: you have to be available 24/7. That thought is balderdash! It actually sets lawyers up for failure. 


There are no fewer than two reasons why failure is the only result of being available 24/7.


First, there is a concept in sales you should under promise and over deliver in order to create clients who are evangelists for you and your work. This concept is true for lawyers as well because we all know a 100% referral-based business is the holy grail of any law practice. If you can create that, your client creation is a flywheel that, in essence, is a perpetual motion machine.


If you set the expectation with others you are available 24/7 and will respond immediately, you can only fail! There is no way you can keep batting 1.000. Ain’t happening, my friend. People will remember that one time you didn’t keep your promise and respond relatively immediately. That’s failure and that’s what you’ll be remembered for.


Second, and perhaps more importantly, if you’re available 24/7 why in the world did you become a lawyer? You could go work in retail, fast food, or any grocery store, and get decent benefits, get paid a living wage, and be able to unplug after your 8.5 hour shift. You’d be able to have a LIFE! You could find that illusive work-life blend we all seek. You would have freedom! Instead, by being available 24/7, you’re creating a cage, albeit a platinum one with presumably high pay and at least a modicum of respect. 


I’m here to tell you, you DO NOT have to, nor should you be, available 24/7. 


This all comes down to setting reasonable expectations with clients and any other people you interact with on a daily basis. Set your heuristics (the rules you live by) and stick to them.


When I had an active legal practice, I let clients know I would typically return emails within 12 hours and voicemails within 24 hours. I would also tell them I would not be available after 6 p.m. my time and, if they attempted to contact me, to not expect to hear from me until the following day. Same for opposing counsel. Same for my law partners. 


Those were the my rules. 


The benefits of setting those rules at the outset of my engagements was that I was able to unplug and be fully present with my family and in my community, absent the week leading up to and including jury trials. I also set myself up to exceed my client’s expectations because, occasionally, I would respond to a message immediately or closely after receiving it. My clients became my evangelists and my client pipeline was full of pre-qualified, closer-to-ideal, clients.


You have to get the thought you must be available 24/7 out of your head. It doesn’t serve clients, your law practice, your family, your community. It simply does not serve you.

The 5 Lies Lawyers Have Bought Into: Lie No. 1 - You have to grind all of the time to be a successful lawyer.

When you take time during your work day to walk or simply zone out, do you feel guilty? When you shut it down at the end of your day do you worry someone will question your dedication? When you’re not head-down focused for days on end are you worried you won’t achieve your goals? All of these thoughts, and countless others, are based on a lie you’ve been told: You have to grind all of the time to be a successful lawyer.

It’s total nonsense. Frankly, it’s worse than nonsense, it’s bullshit, it’s destructive, and it results in less success, not more. If you want to be successful (no matter how you define that word), you simply cannot grind all of the time.

Look no further than Olympic and professional athletes. Those at the very top of their game do not grind for hours on end. Instead, they break their days down into three types of activities: planning, focused work, recovery. There’s a reason they go about their business this way: it works. Period.

Elite athletes also use a system called periodization. They build in times of less intense work over the months of training and competition. These periods of less intense work always come on a regular basis and after intense work has been happening. 

Instead of this type of process, lawyers are told we have to grind to be successful.

There’s an alternative to grinding that will move you closer to success more quickly than grinding. That alternative is being able to enter a state of flow where you have your neurochemistry work for you. It is a process that enables you become up to 500 times more productive, elevates the quality of your work, your clients are served better than they’ve ever been, and, literally, changes your life. It’s called flow. Flow can certainly help you get out of the grind. It’s a system you can put in place.

But learning all about flow and how to trigger it isn’t enough. 

Instead, your mindset needs to be radically rewired so that you don’t get trapped by this and other lies lawyers are told. With a new mindset, you’ll learn to set your own course, define what true wealth means for you - hint, it ain’t all about the Benjamins - and chart your own course.

Are you ready? Click here to schedule a 30-minute discovery session.