SOCIAL MEDIA AS A SOCIAL GOOD:WE’RE LOOKING FOR ADVICE FOR LAWYERS WHEN THE SKY FALLS IN
Two posts last weeks dealt with the hundreds of replies I got when I asked on Twitter what advice should be given to smooth the path young or aspirant lawyers. This led to wider coverage than I could have imagined (the Today Programme, The Times, The Guardian, Legal Cheek). Now that those 15 seconds of fame are over it seems a good idea to take this process a little further. Given the generosity from within the legal professions (and other professions, and from across the world) in the giving of advice it seems a good idea to harness this as part of an ongoing series. Indeed I have had direct encouragement from several organisations within the profession to do this.
“There will be moments in your legal career when things go wrong. Maybe even the devastatingly, “the sky is falling” sort of wrong.”
THE PLAN
Rather than the general advice given in the previous post we should focus on specific issues. These issues need not always be serious, but I thought I’d start with the question of what advice lawyers should be given where everything appears to have gone wrong, further it may well be (or at least it feels it is) your fault. Or you are being blamed and it isn’t your fault.
“There will be moments in your legal career when things go wrong. Maybe even the devastatingly, “the sky is falling” sort of wrong.”
WHEN THE SKY FALLS IN
Mathew Hickey puts the point succinctly in Rocket Lawyer
“There will be moments in your legal career when things go wrong. Maybe even the devastatingly, “the sky is falling” sort of wrong.”
Legal culture, however, favours the myth of infallibility. Lawyers do not make mistakes. This contrasts with reality, where mistakes are made.
THE REASON THIS IS IMPORTANT
This myth (and again myth it is) of legal infallibility can have profound consequences. The most significant of which is that it can make lawyers reluctant to admit their mistakes at once, or, as in the case above, attempt to hide them. The difficulty is that:
- Many mistakes can be rectified if dealt with early.
- The “cover up” of the mistake is almost always far more harmful than the mistake itself.
- The costs, expense and delay to the client are made much worse.
SO TELL YOUNG LAWYERS (AND REMIND OLDER LAWYERS) THAT MISTAKES WILL BE MADE
- Making mistakes does not make you a bad lawyer.
- Failing to admit mistakes makes you a bad lawyer (you are never going to learn).
- Covering up your mistakes makes you a dishonest lawyer (and probably an ex-lawyer).
Mistakes in litigation, if identified early enough and dealt with promptly enough, can often be rectified, or at very least the consequences minimised.
Far better to face up to a mistake than lose your means of earning a living.
ANYWAY WE NEED YOUR VIEWS
What advice would you give the young, or not so young, lawyer in a case where they have made a mistake? There will be a series on Twitter ( @CivilLitTweet) which will be incorporated into a blog post. Alternatively you can use the comment section on this blog.
