Gratitude/Teamwork Makes the (Legal) Dreamwork

As a kid, I was not a fan to "group work." I felt the real effort got pushed to one or two members of the group. Other times it seemed the ideas of the loudest person in the group bulldozed over others' to make their vision a reality.  Still another unhappy element of group work was the slackers (although query whether they were slacking or just got bulldozed). 

However, the longer I've practiced law, the more I've come to appreciate that effective advocacy demands collaboration. When you are building a record, this is relatively obvious: you need witnesses to give you information. When you assemble and mangage a team of experts and other professionals, some interpersonal skills are required. 

Where this may be less obvious is appeals. After all, isn't that enterprise just about the genius of the appellate advocate who can construct the right narrative and frame the issues in the right way? Nope. 

Those are the core competencies, to be sure. Without having some ability to convey a narrative built around a winning issue, convincing an appellate court to toss aside the judgment of twelve jurors, the trial judge, and, depending where you are in the process, many more other judges just will not happen.

But, to be successful, a good deal more is often required. Take the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) as an example. As an empirical matter, a case is roughly ten times as likely to obtain SCOTUS  review if there are three or more amicus briefs in support. From SCOTUS's perspective, the multiple briefs likely mean the issue is important. That is, after all, the core reason the Court elects to take a case. 

But from an advocate's perspective, getting three or more separate briefs in support of a petition means convincing three or more groups of attorneys and/or interest groups of the worthiness of your cause. And that takes...collaboration, even group work. You have to understand what motivates interest groups and advocates. And along the way you better be a good partner, especially if you hope to collaborate again on other cases. 

However, law, like many professions, does not usually celebrate collaboration. The "top" lists and most legal awards are about individuals, not collaborators. This reflects the dominate narrative not only of the legal profession, but of much of our culture. But it is my strong belief that none of my successes, modest though they may be, would be possible absent the involvement of many, many collaborators. 

This Thanksgiving, I hope we can all take a moment to express our gratitude for our collaborators.