Thanks to Bill Lerach, I have been saved from having a dreaded "dark" day on my precious blog. I was sitting before my screen, my beautiful 'tabula rasa', waiting for inspiration to come. The seconds were ticking away. Thankfully, Bill Lerach's resignation memo to his firm was put up by the WSJ Law Blog. I have to say, I've read scores of resignation memos (even written one or two!) and none of them were this good. The guy can write.
At any rate, what I liked most about his congratulating and self-congratulatory memo is that he included a wonderful quote from Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is far better to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
As I sit contemplating the impending further stratification of class in the legal field, the potential melt-downs that always threaten our economic security, the challenges of new technologies and technologies yet-to-be implemented, and the increased complexity and unknown pitfalls presented by a true globalization of legal markets, it all boils down to this: guts, sweat, blood, and yes, tears. What are we as lawyers (and those that serve them) if we are not pushing boldly on the borders of our current experience, skill and paradigms? It is we who are or should be leading our clients into new terrain, over hidden obstacles, under ensnaring regulatory thickets.
As you psychically pause for breath before the impending storm of activity that will overtake us all after the "Labor Day" weekend, let's remember that it always, always comes down to the basics. It is not whether we stumble or even fall, it is whether we get back up, and quickly.
Have a great rest of your week!
