I just got an email from a lawyer pointing out a grammatical error in one of my posts. I thanked her for writing and have corrected the error. But lady. . . lighten up!
Here is part of her email to me:
"Lawyers should be articulate and use proper grammar, particularly in print. Your gaff is like circulating a resume with a typo. It makes a very bad impression. Please remove me from your mailing list."
And that was the nice part. (She accused me of spamming her, quoting the definition of spam (the definition!) and otherwise being much too unpleasant for a beautiful Sunday afternoon.)
What is it about practicing law that makes people so. . . uncivil? Can’t we. . . all get along?
If you think you have been spammed and you don’t want to be on a list, can’t you just unsubscribe? That’s what I do, every single day. All it takes is a click. Or delete the freaking email. But sending angry responses?
Life is too short, people!
I know about the pressure. The deadlines. The arguing.
I remember dreading Mondays, being scolded by judges, and being so tired, you can’t think straight.
It seems like yesterday when I was up all night worrying about how I would pay the bills.
So I do understand.
I haven’t practiced since the late 1990s, and people who knew me then tell me I am a different person today. They say I was uptight, unfriendly, short-tempered. And I know that’s true. I was would so tight, it was years before I began to unravel.
I guess my demenor served me when I was litigating. Tough mantle, and all that. But looking back, I can tell you, I am much happier today.
Life is supposed to be fun and if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, do something else. And if you do enjoy practicing law, but the long hours and stress get to you, there are things you can do. Exercise is a good start. We’ll explore some other strategies in future posts.
If I had learned to deal with the stress when I was practicing, maybe I still would be. And yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition. (And I had fun doing it.)
Given that we’re speaking about things within the region of Lawyers, lighten up–please!, Law is a significantly significantly extra sophisticated tool in the orchestration of the day-to-day organisation of society, through regulating not merely private conduct but also the way we act in business circumstances. Take for instance the everyday task of boarding a train. The law regulates many aspects of this feat: (1) the criminal law in addition to the constitution permits us to board public transport. (2) The constitution permits us to create contract with an additional. (three) The laws of contract permit us to form a contract for transport with the train firm, and ensure that that contract is fulfilled. (4) The laws of contract and tort enable us to board with out fear of injury, or with remedy ought to really the worst happen. Finally the law of ownership and currency enables us to hand over funds in consideration for this service, which is of worth to the other contracting party. In reality, the law regulates just about everything we do, and is important in performing so to make particular the smooth running of community and every aspect of our lives.