Thirty Years in the Saddle
March 8, 2023: Thirty Years in the Saddle
And just like that it’s been 30 years since I started practicing law.
My first job was at a law firm. But I didn’t like being told what to do. So three years (and three firms) later I started Myers & Company.
My first business card read:
Comprehensive Legal Services
I didn’t want to miss an opportunity.
Ever since then I’ve been narrowing my practice. At this point I just represent people who have been hurt—physically or financially—by someone else.
If you asked me when I was 26 what my practice would be like at 56 I would have confidently described something that looked completely different than what you see now.
At 26 I thought that by 36 I’d have a voluminous knowledge of the law. I didn’t. And I still don’t.
Every day some new legal issue comes up. If I knew all the answers it would be boring. And, maybe more importantly, this job is more about identifying and analyzing risk and opportunity than it is about the “law.”
At 26 I didn’t appreciate how much exposure I’d get to human behavior. Both at the best and worst of times. All that exposure has helped me become a pretty good predictor of what people will say or do next.
My dad always told me that getting along with other people was the most important thing I could do at work. I refused to believe it. I thought that work was completely a meritocracy. And if you were good at your job, interpersonal friction didn’t matter.
I was absolutely wrong. He was absolutely right. (A recurring theme.)
Fortunately I’m a lot better at managing relationships now than I was 30 years ago.
And along the way I’ve learned so much about so many collateral things:
the nervous system
human factors
crab fishing boats
health insurance
ski lifts
laminated root rot
electronics in elevators
somatic symptom disorder….
Practicing law has been so much richer than I could have possibly imagined. I understand myself, the world around me and other people so much better than I did 30 years ago.
It’s a little like the space program. The goal is to get to the moon. And you end up with Tang, Post-It Notes, etc.
In some ways the Post-It Notes seem less consequential than the moonshot. But on a day to day basis they provide a lot more utility.
At this point it would be easy to write: Here’s to another 30 years. But that isn’t going to happen.
I have about 11 years left until my son Marcellus finishes high school. Then I’m going to wrap it up. No one likes a fighter who stays in the ring too long.