Malcolm Gladwell, in What The Dog Saw (2009), discusses”Late Bloomers.” To Gladwell there are prodigies and there are late bloomers. We all know prodigies. In art a prodigy is Paublo Picasso. Late bloomers are known but not until they are old. This is because the late bloomer takes years to show his talent. Gladwell uses the example of Paul Cezanne who was not known as a great painter until old age.
In the practice of law we also have late bloomers. The traits of a late bloomer include: being well organized; being methodical; making mistakes; but, learning from mistakes. Let’s explore these traits to determine if we are a late blooming trial lawyer.
Well Organized. Do we take the time to organize our files? Do we know where to find documents? Do we have a case management system computerized or written where we have at our finger tips all information on client’s case? Are we organized in any court appearance? If yes to these questions, and we are not recognized as a legal prodigy then we may be a late bloomer.
Methodical. Late bloomers are also plodding. They are in no hurry. They know haste makes waste. They take the time to prepare by internalizing the facts and having the law researched. Little comes as a surprise because they have been there done that. If this is you you are looking more like a late bloomer.
Early Mistakes. Although we have had success we have had failures. Failure is seen when we start trying cases. All phases of jury trial present problems, and all of the problems present opportunities to stumble. But we cannot be a late bloomer unless we make lots of mistakes.
Learning from Mistakes. The key to being a late bloomer is learning from mistakes. It is through mistakes that we grow as a late bloomer. Gladwell teaches late bloomers make tons of mistakes and they take years in making them. But they get better through their mistakes. The same is true as the late bloomer trial lawyer. In fact without the mistakes we have no hope of getting to the late bloomer level of accomplishment. The level where we are in the same light as the prodigy.
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Not all of us are quick off the mark and succeed early in life. Some of us are like slow-boiling pots, who need time to gather wisdom and make sense of the world around us. But watch out when a late bloomer finally gets it – late bloomers are a driving force in the world because they have spent a long time digesting ideas, information and knowledge to come up with some amazing solutions to the world’s problems.