Q: When it comes to practicing law, is fear a good thing or a bad thing?
A: Yes. It depends on how much fear we’re talking about. A modicum of nervousness or unease can alert you to a problem that needs to be solved and motivate you to action. It could be a sense that you may be missing something in a case or that you’ll feel a financial crunch if you don’t get your bills out. A little fear helps you be a good lawyer if it spurs you to do what you need to do for your clients or for your practice.
Too much fear in the form of chronic worry and anxiety, however, can lead to procrastination, avoidance and even paralysis. Feeling worried or anxious all the time is not an enjoyable way to live. Avoidance of problems can easily lead to bigger problems. In addition, fear can influence our decisions in ways that aren’t always best for us or our clients. Let’s look at two common ways that fear can hurt you and your practice, plus a few tips on keeping it under control.
Avoidance: Inaction When Action Is Needed
Procrastination is one of the most common lawyer behaviors I have observed. While it’s a common human behavior, too, it can have some really scary consequences for your practice.
Sometimes you put off working on a case because you don’t know what to do next. Sometimes you don’t know what to do at all. And why should you? Practicing law can entail a lot of novelty and detail, and you can’t possibly know it all. Not knowing things can make you anxious — you get scared about making a mistake or appearing like you don’t know what you’re doing. As long as you don’t do anything, you can’t make a mistake, so you trick yourself into believing that doing nothing is better than doing something wrong.
So, you see where this is leading. By avoiding the thing you don’t know how to do, you get temporary relief from anxiety. Only part of your brain knows what you’re up to and isn’t happy about it, recognizing that the work isn’t getting done, the deadline is coming up, the client is growing impatient and you’re not billing for the work you’re not doing. Images of bar complaints and bankruptcy lurk in the wings, adding all the time to your growing sense of un-ease. And the longer you wait, the worse it gets.
This is how procrastination can lead to paralysis. If it gets bad enough, you stop answering the phone because someone on the other end is going to yell at you. You stop opening your mail because there’s something in there that will demand action that you feel you can’t do. You stop working altogether because by now the whole enterprise feels hopeless. And yes, you recognize that hopelessness is a symptom of depression, so now you realize that you’re depressed as well as anxious.
I’ve seen many law practices struggle and several implode due to this dynamic. And while most of you have both the internal and external resources necessary to face the scary aspects of your law practice, some of you don’t. Please — ask for help.
Let me point out that avoidance isn’t always related to anxiety. Sometimes it’s about unwillingness to exert effort. For example, I enjoy writing — at least in theory — but it requires me to settle down, concentrate and type one word at a time. When I’m tired or distracted or wanting to do something else, this is difficult to do. (We could call this kind of avoidance laziness — but let’s not.)
In the end, anxiety still plays a part because I’m writing this article, for example, on a deadline, and I have limited slots in my schedule to devote to it. I don’t want to look stupid in the eyes of the editor for committing to something I’m not going to do, and I’m not fond of delivering bad news, like, “Sorry, but the article I promised to write is going to be 10 days late.”
So, these little anxieties propel me to do what needs to be done: park myself in front of the computer and type. Sometimes the “just do it” motto is apropos. Thank you, Nike.
Saying Yes When You Should Say No
A second way that fear can torpedo a law practice is when it motivates you to say yes when you should say no. I’m confident that each of you could give me a few examples of times you (or your boss) have done this and the price you’ve paid for doing so. Fear about money is often at the root of this practice.
Every lawyer who controls his or her caseload has had the experience of accepting clients or cases she or he shouldn’t have. There was a little voice in the back of your head (or a churning in your gut) that said, “Run away, run away,” when your prospective client spent 30 minutes complaining about his previous three lawyers.
If you were worried about paying next month’s rent or making your billables, you probably thought something like, “This person sounds a little crazy, but I’m sure I can help him.” Fear clouded your judgment, desperation caused you to accept the check he handed over and regret visited you weeks or months later after he turned out to be the proverbial client from hell.
Likewise, fears about finances can spur you to over-commit and take on more than you can reasonably do. A good way to work yourself into a nervous breakdown — or into a bar complaint — is to say yes to new projects you can’t timely complete. You can temporarily quell your fears via denial or bravado, but sometimes too much is just too much.
Being afraid to say no extends to lawyers in all kinds of practice settings. There are times when partners in large and small firms alike won’t say no to their clients or to new business when common sense or ethical principles suggest they should. The misery and stress of overwork trickles down to associates and legal assistants who believe they can’t say no to the partners. Fears about meeting dollar or billable hour quotas fuel the insanity.
In the extreme, fear about money can cause really bad behavior. I’m thinking about some of the lawyers we read about in the back of the Bar News who have used clients’ funds inappropriately. I suspect only a very small percentage of these folks are genuine crooks; the rest have bumbled into financial difficulty via poor business practices, poor health and/or a mental health issue like gambling or severe depression.
People usually get themselves into desperate financial situations one little decision or event at a time. Eventually, they say yes instead of no to the idea of misusing funds because it’s the only viable option they can see to address their financial woes.
Keeping Fear in Check
Fear is like fire — useful when contained and controlled, and destructive when not. Our goal is to harness that energy for constructive purposes. To that end, I offer these suggestions:
- Learn to keep yourself in the present. Fear is often about the future and you can’t fix something in the future today. Focus on what you can do right here, right now.
- Learn to relax. Practice breathing deeply from your gut and relaxing your muscles one by one. This habit will lower your blood pressure and keep your head clear.
- Shift your focus from what you don’t want to the outcome you desire. When you’re caught up in fear, you’re thinking about things you don’t want to happen. Focus instead on picturing a positive (or even neutral) outcome.
- Have the courage to ask for help if you need it. Chronic worry and anxiety are common problems that can interfere with a lawyer’s work and quality of life. Don’t be passive — do something to improve your internal and/or external situation.
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Rebecca Nerison, Ph.D., has counseled, coached and consulted with lawyers at the Washington State Bar Association Lawyers Assistance Program since 1997. The LAP is committed to helping lawyers work toward health, life-work balance and career success. Dr. Nerison can be reached at 206-727-8269 or rebeccan@wsba.org.
