Attorneys
All attorneys attend law school, study hard, graduate in three years, take and pass their bar exam (each state has their own), attend a swearing-in ceremony and open the mail one day to receive their license to practice law which is issued by the Supreme Court of Washington.
Becoming a lawyer is not unlike becoming a professional athlete. Professional athletes train hard, study the playbooks, attend summer camps, hope to join up with a team that will allow the athlete to develop his or her skills and actualize his or her full potential as a person (first of all) and a professional athlete (second of all).
We see ourselves as a professional team of lawyers in the same way as any professional sports team is seen as a team of professional athletes. We see each other as teammates. We share cases together, provide each other with insights, encouragement, necessary critiques, and we do all of this in conjunction with the input and involvement of the client. We work daily as generous sounding boards for our teammates.
We are a team of champions. But more importantly, we are a championship team. We work hard to develop our individual legal skills, develop our individual legal expertise. But more importantly, each of us are personally connected with others in the firm. For example, David and Christian have known each other since grade school. Seth and Christian met and became close friends while both attended and graduated from the University of Oregon Law School. And on it goes. A championship team will generally beat a team of champions. Witness the 2005-2006 Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals. Witness the star studded New York Yankees' loss to the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 Playoffs. Witness the USA Dream Team's loss to the Soviets in the Olympic Basketball event.
We also interconnect and team-up out of the office with mountain climbs, running events, indoor/outdoors soccer teams, skiing etc.
All of us, including your lawyer, need to be as passionate about our personal lives as we are about our professional lives. That's how we effectively connect with ourselves and others. That's how we keep our balance. That's how lawyers are able to provide balanced advice and representation to clients. Perspective is invariably more important than focus. Tunnel vision loses sight of the end game: the efficient pursuit and accomplishment of a client's realistic objectives.
Click on an image above to learn more about our lawyers and how their personal lives keep each of them in balance.