An idle Thursday.

Running a business has always been about building relationships that stand the test of both time and adversity.

I am not a fan of winter’s cold and dark. At the first opportunity, I wear sandals on my feet, and lightweight, free- flowing clothing. I do not mind a sideways glance at my lack of bulky attire or sandals as footwear.  

Perhaps the attire signals attitude.

And attitudes matter.   

Even to me.

I am practiced enough in this business to (mostly) set my personal views and sentiments aside in my work. I know I am an advocate; I do not supplant my judgment for others, but rather shepherd a process and path.

I met with new and returning clients this week.

I traveled to a distant courthouse to get judgment in a partition action for a very joyous bubbly client who shared my dislike of malfunctioning traffic meters: we laughed at our attempts to pay as our cars were parked in tandem on a busy street. That client was happy to sever the ties of joint ownership of a residence. I also met a random google generated local who wanted to write a will for the benefit of a significant other; they too were grateful for the quick turnaround time and the clear explanation of the process.  I saw a client I had known for years for the tie-up of her husband’s estate: I marveled about how she had recalibrated her life and choices over time; her youthful appearance belied all of her near to 80 years and I am quite sure because of her attitude and not despite it.

I suspect I will continue to have relationships with these individuals; they looked at the world through productive, move-it-forward eyes.  They were reasonable in their requests, understood timelines set forth, and saw the value provided in someone easing their path.  They exhibited trust: that I was acting in their best interests as reasonably rapidly as time and the wily paths in and around and through the Courthouse permitted.

And then there were others.  

Others whose backstories – or one in particular – were unknown to me – and whose every personal meet-up with me was adversarial, as if the information provided was either suspect, wrong, or laced with some hidden personal desire of mine to take advantage.  I was the same lawyer throughout -with the same knowledge base and same presentation and same demeanor but somehow that version of me “fell” different with them.

The negative was palpable.

I know that my mood can make the weather, until sometimes it cannot – And then, perhaps that client is best served elsewhere, because I can not build the relationship with them that is the hallmark of why my work has meaning to me.   I need to not be disappointed when the negativity of a client is just not within my abilities to manage, or not within my want to be of service, for reasons the client will not disclose or I can discern – my best advocacy skills work within the context of a relationship that I alone can not build.

And so are my reflections on an idle Thursday, as we launch, every so hopefully, toward the summer I am so impatient for.