Why we stay lawyers
Yesterday, I commented our profession’s devotion to discussions of strategies for leaving the profession. I am sure that one reason that exits are so common, especially for litigators, is because of a simple fact – our clients come to us because they have trouble. In fact, in my more cynical moments, I have described commercial litigation as working for wealthy people who can’t get along.
With a daily reality like that, law can sometimes seem a meaningless grind.
Fortunately, there are times when I get to just feel good about what I do. And one of those times occurred last night, when I visited Lavo, the newest restaurant, lounge and nightclub from the people who brought you Tao Las Vegas, Tao Beach, and Tao New York.
Despite my presence, Lavo is clearly a happening place. More importantly, as I walked through the space filled with beautiful men and women enjoying good food, loud music, and intriguing décor, I got a reminder that what we do as lawyers can have real meaning to real people.
The reason I got to feel good so good about being there was because I was part of the legal team that overcame the attempts to prevent Lavo from ever coming into existence. Lavo represented years of planning and millions of dollars in investment by my clients. It employs hundreds of people.
And it is open.
That feels good.
And not only that, but I got to write a few damn good briefs (can you tell I don’t believe in false modesty?), including one in which I used a series of quotes from Machiavelli to establish the theme.
That’s the sort of thing legal writing geeks like me live for, you know.
It would be such a good feeling to really see the outcome of your effort - to see the people with their jobs and to enjoy the food and drink! I've worked in the legal field for several years and often didn't really get to see any of the results. The times I did get to truly see the impact on the clients' lives were the most meaningful ones.