Clients need legal services, but what if they specifically wanted yours?

Attorneys are incredibly intelligent. That is not blowing smoke; that’s a bar exam verified fact. Any educator will tell you though that traditional intelligence is one thing, and emotional intelligence is another. And as an attorney, you often have to ignore the latter in order to remain objectively focused on the facts. This makes for fantastically effective attorneys, singularly focused on mastering the law . . . and woefully unprepared when it comes to offering much sought after intangibles, like care, compassion and responsiveness.

So how can attorneys learn to master these increasingly crucial skills? Practice and more practice! As we spoke to in our post last week, attorneys doing the right thing poorly have the right idea. Law firms need to provide opportunities for attorneys to “do the right thing,” and attorneys need to be willing to take a risk and do the right thing poorly as they work toward doing the right thing well.

Why should they do this? Because clients are expecting it. Great legal services are table stakes. Clients expect attorneys to understand the law, so this is available from countless firms. But going the extra mile, understanding the importance of care, compassion and responsiveness? – THAT is unique. And that is what will ultimately separate the wheat from the chaff among otherwise competent practitioners.

Sound scary? Share your thoughts, for or against, below. Let’s get the conversation started!