Though it might not be obvious to ordinary citizens who watch TV shows about lawyers like NBC’s The Law Firm, lawyers rarely know the answers to thorny legal issues off the top of their heads. Instead, they have to look up the answers. Or, more often, they turn to the lawyer standing next to them and ask, for example, “Hey, do you know how I can require an Arkansas resident to appear for a deposition in a case pending in California?”
Because new associates, by their nature, do a lot of standing around, it’s often new associates who are asked questions like these by more experienced lawyers. Here’s my tip to these new associates: If you don’t know the answer, admit it. Are you afraid that you’ll be penalized if you take this course? It’s not likely. After all, the lawyer who’s asking you the question doesn’t know the answer either.
After you say "I don't know," you should offer to find out the answer. In my own career, I’ve said “I don’t know” a thousand times, and I’m none the worse for it. Consider the alternative. Many young lawyers in the situation I’m describing feel compelled to make something up—to “wing it,” in the vernacular. I’ll tell you what will happen. First, they’ll look like idiots, either when they first open their mouths or later, when the lawyers on the receiving end of the communication learn they were wrong. Second, the lawyers who asked the question will never ask these new associates another one. Instead, they’ll move on to other associates they can trust.
If all this is too much to remember, simply keep in mind the immortal words of Mark Twain: “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
Related post: Young Associates: How to Set Yourself Apart.
One half of a coping mechanism to avoid the "I don't know" is to say, "I check that." As a young associate, it often helps to have a pad and pen when "standing around," and industriously scribble down notes of these tasks -- it makes you look attentive. And if you have a good idea but aren't sure, you could say "You know, I think _____, but I'll check that and get back to you." The other half of the coping mechanism is to follow-up immediately and thoroughly. One cottolary -- never cite a case as support for a proposition unless you have made sure it's good law. It is good practice in large firms to attach the cite search results to the case to show you have exercised due care and to CYA.
The inability to tactfully say "I don't know" doesn't end with early associateship -- recently on a case i know, the lead counsel made what could well be taken as a misrepresentation to the judge about the availability of some information the judge himself had suggested as relevant. A nice letter to opposing counsel (we just asked if the information that had been found was some of the material he said to the Court did not exist) that helped him conclude that if discovery relating to this information could not be resolved the judge would likely want to have the whole sordid story of his "representations" to the Court recited was enough to get a nice rapid response and resolution.
Posted by: YGB | September 12, 2005 at 03:28 AM