Blog
Sometimes you SHOULD judge a book by its cover
Written by Holly M. Hohlbein Friday, 14 October 2005 00:00
Recently, a client complimented me on my appearance. I thanked him, but I was a little taken aback. I said to him "lawyers want to know that their clients think they are smart, not attractive." He laughed and said, "you're smart, too." It got me to thinking. As my family law practice has matured over the past 16 years, I have slowly been losing my "lawyer" outfits: all those navy, black and gray skirt or pants suits with white or cream blouses; low-heeled, boring shoes; matronly jewelry. Those outfits are a uniform, like doctors or police officers wear. They say "I am smart and strong and I will protect you." There is some comfort in that. But those outfits can also communicate arrogance: "I am smarter and stronger than you." I know that when I go to the doctor, I feel more comfortable when they are dressed in street clothes like I might wear, than when they are wearing the scary white coats. In the same way, I find that I listen better and my clients relax more when I am not staring them down with my power suit. When we don't have the super hero outfit to rely on, we have to communicate our strength, skill, and confidence to our clients in other, more substantive ways. The next time I saw John, he said, "you look smart today." OK, maybe I coached him a little...
