the Zealous

Many lawyers, especially litigators, perceive qualities such as empathy, authenticity, and collaborative spirit that are essential for success in relationships and in most other professions to be liabilities in the practice of law. These lawyers may feel compelled to leave those qualities outside the office rather than harnessing the enormous positive energy that those qualities can provide to fuel their work. It’s no wonder that so many lawyers have low psychic energy and feel disconnected from their authentic selves in doing their jobs.

A cruise down any major interstate highway in the US will expose the driver to countless lawyer billboard ads. It’s a good bet that lawyers are among the most prolific billboard advertisers in the country.

In fact, the ads have reached the point where those most exposed to them—long-haul truckers—are taking action in opposition: Truckers fight back against ‘big truck wreck’ attorney billboards.

Most ads are cheesy and unremarkable. However, a few stand out:

Just because you did it doesn’t mean you’re guilty

Injured? Don’t pull your hair out. Mybaldlawyer.com

DUI/DWI Defense: 1-800-NOT-DRUNK

Richard Susskind is “an author, speaker, and independent adviser to major professional firms and to national governments. His main area of expertise is the future of professional service and, in particular, the way in which the IT and the Internet are changing the work of lawyers.” In the words of Jordan Furlong: “We talk a lot about ‘visionaries’ these days, but in the legal profession, nobody seriously competes with Richard Susskind for that title ….”.

In 2009, Susskind published The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services, a pioneering work that served as a wake-up call for the legal profession. Lawyers are not “entitled to profit from the law”, Susskind wrote with a poignancy that continues to reverberate to this day. Susskind’s was one of the first voices to challenge lawyers to “identify their distinctive skills and talents, the capabilities that they possess that cannot, crudely, be replaced by advanced systems, or by less costly workers supported by technology or standard processes, or by lay-people armed with online self-help tools.”