Supporting Junior Lawyers Through Errors

Young lawyers: you will probably think you committed malpractice several times during your career. You probably have not. As a veteran of many sleepless nights thinking I screwed up, let me offer a few tips when these feelings come your way. First, take deep breaths and a short walk. You have likely allowed your brain to spin out some fantastical scenarios based on the most minor of errors, or no error at all. Second, immediately go see your supervisor and/or the attorney in your office who handles these issues. I said go see them, not write a comprehensive memo while you are not thinking straight. You will probably find that their reaction to the situation is a lot less dire than you have awfulized. Third, follow the instructions you are given by the attorney mentioned above. The advice could be anywhere from relax (the most likely advice) to help me gather some additional facts. Under no circumstances should you attempt to handle the issue yourself. Fourth, realize that nearly all lawyer mistakes can be fixed, with no harm to your client. For those few situations where a disclosure has to be made to your client and/or the firm's professional liability insurer, that does not mean you committed malpractice. It just means your firm is doing what it is obligated to do under ethics rules or the terms of the firm's insurance policy. Finally, I know this experience can be hard, but it happens to almost everyone. The fact that you even think there may be an issue (where probably no one else would) shows what a careful lawyer you are. Be proud of that.

We should teach lawyers how to acknowledge and address mistakes. It's simply impossible to go through an entire career without making any mistakes. I made one a couple weeks ago, and learned about it a few days ago. Tiny error, but annoying. Easy to resolve, but inconvenient. When you learn about a mistake, here's what you do. 1) Acknolwedge the mistake. Don't hide from it and hope no one ever finds out. I've heard about attorneys discovering a mistake and being so mortified or overwhelmed that they just bury it in their own minds and hope it'll just go away. Don't do that. 2) Communicate to the client and/or colleague, whoever needs to know about the mistake. 3) Apologize to the client or colleague, whoever may be inconvenienced. 4) Fix the mistake. And if relevant, eat the cost - don't have your client pay for it. I hope that's a 'duh.' 5) Recognize that you're a human being, and human beings make mistakes. It doesn't mean you suck. 6) Learn from the mistake. I used to be so horrified to discover that I was infallible that any mistake would absolutely paralyze and mortify me. That was a painful and less-than-helpful way to live. For me, 99% of my mistakes happen when I'm moving too fast or I'm too tired (or both). So when I discover I've made a mistake, I take it as an opportunity to force myself to slow down and take a step back and assess the situation. Sometimes my mistakes mean I need to add or adjust an internal process to better streamline my activities. I recently came across a post suggesting that it's junior attorneys that are the ones making mistakes. Sure, they make mistakes. But so does everyone else. A well-respected partner I worked with once sent a client a deliverable with an incomplete sentence. YUP. That happened. We all (I think) strive to do our best. Sometimes we fall short. WHEN - not IF - WHEN you make a mistake, handle it well. Another well-respected partner I worked with told me this: NEVER LET A FAILURE GO TO WASTE. What advice do you have for addressing mistakes? Anyone want to share a juicy failure? #thewellnessesquire

When I was a new lawyer I wrote "council" to refer to the attorney for the other side. I know, cringe. The partner I was working with just told it to me, straight up, no caveats. "It's coun-s-e-l, not coun-c-i-l.” And you know what? That was exactly what I needed. I was going to be embarrassed either way. Any attempt at trying to make me feel better would honestly have just belabored the time we had to spend talking about it and would have made it worse. The quick correction treated me like a competent adult professional who could handle direct feedback and learn from it. No long explanation about how "everyone makes that mistake" or "don't worry, you'll get it." Just the information I needed to fix it and move on. Sometimes the kindest thing a mentor can do is respect your ability to handle the truth without awkward emotional cushioning. Direct doesn't mean cruel. It can actually be more respectful. If you're a new lawyer, know that you can handle direct feedback better than you think. You don't need your mistakes wrapped in reassurance to learn from them. If you're a senior lawyer, trust that junior colleagues are resilient enough for straightforward corrections. Sometimes the most respectful thing you can do is give them the information they need and move on.