Inside the Bar
December 2003

Thrown to the Wolves

By Thomas E. Dixon
State Bar CLE Director

It was 1970. Was it 3rd Street? Wells? I really can't remember anymore. I do remember Mr. Jones. He was being evicted from a store he had run (and lived behind) on the near north side of Milwaukee by one of the city's most notorious slum landlords. I was a third-year law student handling cases "under the supervision" of a young lawyer in a poverty law firm. Ugly metal file cabinets and metal desks, no amenities, no resources and, most importantly, no know-how.

Mentoring? Under the crush of the caseloads, you were lucky if you found a few minutes to discuss ideas and theory on a case. Actual skills training? Didn't exist. Cocounseling? Only if the case had merit as a law reform case.

If the case didn't merit cocounsel, you were going it alone; a warrior of intelligence, commitment, concern, and modest legal knowledge, with almost no time and with few arrows in the quiver of how to actually practice law on the street.

Sometimes, we won by legal acumen; sometimes we won by pure, emotion-driven righteousness; we never lost for lack of effort. I can only imagine how frequently our representation took too long or focused too intensely on the "issue," when excellence in negotiation strategy or communication skills could easily have improved our client's position and perhaps won the day.

Finding a balance between practicing poverty law and living life was not even a concept. And so we suffered with our clients, and frequently became immune to the importance of our client's woes as we sank under the weight of too many examples of man's and woman's inhumanity to one another. Often, we just burned out and moved on.

Being a little too smart for our own good, some of us may not have taken advantage of the help that was available. Sink or swim, figure it out, no one's got time to hold your hand, when the going gets tough - you know the drill.

It doesn't have to be that way. Even if you're heading out on your own, other lawyers have knowledge and experience to share with their colleagues.

The Senior and Young Lawyers divisions want to ensure that lawyers entering practice, particularly those lawyers hanging out a shingle, start with a better base of knowledge and a foundation for building a successful practice. They found a font of enthusiasm in the late Leonard Loeb, the dedication of the Senior Lawyers' Jack DeWitt and the Young Lawyers' Laura Dunek, and the commitment of State Bar President George Burnett, who created a committee of lawyers and judges to develop a program of practice information and skills that would be particularly useful to new practitioners and those hanging out their own shingle.

Under cochairs Nathan Fishbach, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek, and me, the committee has developed "Building for Success: The Ultimate How-To Seminar for New and Not -So-New Lawyers," a one-day program that includes everything from communication skills to networking to growing with your business clients. If you have ever felt "thrown to the wolves," join us in Milwaukee, Madison, or Wausau on Jan. 14, 15, or 30, respectively, for only $59.

Mr. Jones? I managed to get him another six months while he found a new storefront in the neighborhood with a better landlord. Through my excellent negotiation and persuasion skills? Nah - the landlord was so obnoxious, she ticked off the judge as much as she did me. There are better ways. Join us in January.

Inside the Bar