Surrendering the illusion of control when faced with tremendous uncertainty
Before I was a lawyer, there were the early years as a law firm gofer. In that law firm there was an older attorney who rented an office. That older attorney had been a trial lion, a medical malpractice hitter. Then came the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975, dear old MICRA. Threats of PICRA lurked around corners. With the risks on the horizon the trial lion shifted his focus, becoming for all intents and purposes a door attorney – helping out anyone who came in the door. And PICRA never became the law of the land.
May you live in interesting times
But PICRA came really f#$%ing close. Packed into what were known as the Terrible 200s initiatives in 1996, a 15% contingency fee cap was defeated by just 2.5% of the vote. The victory was the result of strong leadership and law firm financial contributions – big and small – to get the message out. The fact that we can win an attempt to dissolve the civil justice system, given the current Uber funded PICRA effort, is important to remember. But for anyone involved in a consumer law firm (that’d be all y’all, dear readers) there’s more to consider when evaluating the future. Take a drive anywhere these days and one will encounter countless law firm billboards. In some areas in Los Angeles 7 out of 10 of the billboards along highways are personal injury firm advertisements. What’s the common person likely to conclude? If personal injury cases support this kind of advertising perhaps lawyers are making too much money.
But does that truly represent what’s going on? We have some dominant players who are jockeying for position and willing to spend to get there. We have private equity, eager to expand their investment footprint into a new professional sphere, providing liquidity to help fund these battles. And we have legacy trial lawyer firms, recognizing the referral-based landscape is changing, jumping into the advertising fray. Lurking in the wings is the Uber initiative. It makes for a tumultuous time.
But wait, there’s more! There’s artificial intelligence. AI might replace all white-collar workers within the next six to 18 months. Or perhaps AI is the emperor’s new clothes – it won’t lead to any improved efficiency and will take down the US economy once folks realize this. Or it will reach the singularity, surpassing humans and enslaving us. Or some variant thereof. While no one seems to know we certainly are being shilled a lot of AI products we can buy in the meantime.
And then there’s political turbulence with totalitarian leanings, yet another country invaded (Iran, if you’re trying to date this piece, with indications the unrest is spreading across the Middle East), and staggering income inequality that continues to expand until it may reach the tipping point. Or as The Dark Knight’s Selina Kyle said, “There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you’re going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.” We’ve had the privilege of having lived through a long window of relative stability. Some feel so entitled to that stability they cannot comprehend the direction we are trending. It probably doesn’t help to know that beyond instability all civilizations collapse. Populations dwindle. Knowledge gets lost. Literacy plummets. Plunder rages. It just a question of when and how that collapse occurs…
Change is inevitable
Whoa – that got dark… So how do we survive instability? By letting go. One cannot control the future. Surrender the illusion of control. Worrying about the future is pointless. That doesn’t mean giving up on what one believes in. Fight valiantly for those beliefs – justice, freedom, equality, and civilization. And one can control one’s response to change. Even better, with change comes opportunity. Those who stay curious and inventive tend to benefit from those opportunities. Those who work hard and persist succeed more than those with genius, talent, or education. If one is innovating, take smaller risks initially and if these risks fail, fail quickly, iterate, and re-engage.
Finally, remember that there’s enough for everyone. Competition in sport, business, and life can lead to excellence. And like anything, pushed to its extreme it can become destructive. A scarcity mindset and the fear it engenders can be crippling. Overcome that scarcity fear by offering a hand, pitching in, being generous, volunteering, and being kind. It is only through spending time helping those who have less that we can recognize how fortunate we are.
Outro
As we face change, we’ll need to make decisions about our future. Some, like that older trial lion I knew when I was a gofer, chose to pivot. Some people today are pursing alternate citizenship as a hedge against American autocracy. Whether it is our practice or our politics, our civics or our society, hedges and pivots are understandable. But not without putting up a hell of a fight first.
Bios:
Miles B. Cooper is a partner at Coopers LLP, where they help the seriously injured, people grieving the loss of loved ones, preventable disaster victims, and all bicyclists. Miles also consults on trial matters and associates in as trial counsel. He has served as lead counsel, co-counsel, second seat, and schlepper over his career, and is an American Board of Trial Advocates member.
