One of the great, unspoken realities of being a new lawyer that is never mentioned in law school is that you are going to screw up – badly. And then you’re going to have to explain it to your supervising attorney.

You’re going to miss a deadline, not file an objection, miss an important bit of case law, or not contact an attorney involved in a case about a hearing. A mistake is going to be made and it will be your fault.

You’ll be tempted to shift the blame. Come up with excuses as to why something outside of your control caused the problem. You were swamped with work and had too much on your plate. He said, she said.

But if the is task assigned to you, it is your personal responsibility to make sure it was completed on time and specification.

As the task, and subsequent mistake, are your responsibility, you must own it.

1) Don’t Panic

Tempting as it may be to shut your office and have a private meltdown, it isn’t going to do anyone (you, the firm, the client) any amount of good. Rather, take your anxiety and nervous energy into finding out how the mistake occurred. Time to put on your detective hat and investigate the problem.

  • What circumstances led to the current situation?
  • Were their multiple small mistakes that led to a larger one?
  • Scheduling problems?
  • Missed email?
  • Additional or new information that was not previously available?
  • Were incorrect assumptions made?
  • Could you have recognized bad assumptions earlier?
  • Did we have the right goals? Were we trying to solve the right problem?
  • Miscommunication or misunderstanding of the nature of the project?

Take the time to fully understand exactly how you screwed up.

2) Make A Plan

Before you confess your sins, first come up with two plans to solve or correct the problem. The last thing a supervising attorney wants to hear is that you made a mess and need their help to clean it up. 5-year olds know enough to clean up after themselves when they spill something – so should you.

Work back to what you should have done in the first place. Think through the problem.

  • Can the task actually still be completed, albeit late?
  • Can you handle the matter with a phone call to opposing counsel?
  • Can you request an extension from the court?
  • Can the mistake be corrected with additional pleadings?

Come up with two plans for addressing the problem: a primary and secondary. For both plans, be sure to indicate a timeline to correct the mistake and any costs involved to the firm or client.

3) Don’t Dodge

Time to own up to your screw up. Contact your supervising attorney and tell them that there is a mistake has been made with matter X, and you need to discuss it with them. Once you’re in their office, don’t try and shift the blame or avoid responsibility for the our failure. Completely own the problem.

  • Explain the situation leading up to the mistake.
  • Explain what happened.
  • Explain what you think were the root causes that led to the mistake.
  • Completely take ownership and apologize. Don’t shirk responsibility. Try: “This was my assignment and I screwed up on it. I did X instead of Y. I’m sorry it happened.”
  • Lay out your options for correcting the problem. Try: “Here are my thoughts on what can be done about this issue. We can try Option 1 [insert 3 sentence executive summary] or Option 2 [insert 3 sentence executive summary]. Option 1 involves…”

At any point in time be prepared for the supervising attorney to (rightfully) jump down your throat. More than likely, it is going to be their responsibility to explain to the client that a mistake has been made. As such, it is going to be their ass that gets chewed out by the client. So don’t be surprised when they want to dole out some ass chewing of their own. Acknowledge that you made a mistake, and press on the possible solutions to the problem.

Your supervising attorney will be much more amicable if you present them with solutions instead of showing up and asking them to re-arrange their schedule to fix your screw up.

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