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October 20, 2011

Rule 12: Have Fun. If you're a professional, and it's Not Fun, please reevaluate.

Here's how my "boss", an unhappy energetic young Midwesterner, found fun, love, hard work, humility, a little sanity, power, friends and enemies--and kept them all--by practicing law in our nation's capitol. Rule 12 is from the grating but highly correct Rules of Client Service. Anyone can do Rule 12. First, be born good-looking, athletic, and charming into an affluent WASP family that settled here almost four centuries ago. Have family money. Date only twins or actresses who go to Smith. Second, go to school, work hard, make some more money. Third, build your own firm. Fire all but one pessimist. Get a grandiose notion of your targeted client base--and keep them coming back so you don't have to "market". Finally, start up your own "blog", even though you're not at all sure what a "blog" is--but you sure think a "blog" sounds suspiciously show-tunes and at best nerdy and passive-aggressive. Have someone teach you how to "work" the blog. Say anything. Ignite relationship-killing arguments in upstate New York towns you'll never visit; upset inept fellow suits you see every day. Paint older lawyers as Dorks, younger lawyers as Looters. And Do Have Fun.

fun_on_the_beach.jpg
WAC in 1967 with the Pennington Twins.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at October 20, 2011 11:59 PM

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