4: Never Consider Anything That Goes to a Senior Colleague or Client to Be a “Draft”
You will be judged on everything you send to senior lawyers and clients. When one of them says, “Hey, send me a draft of X in two days,” they don't actually mean they want a draft.
They want the complete document. Mistakes, omissions, and bracketed items are not looked upon well, unless they are business points that you have no way of knowing. If you must use brackets on a legal issue, put in all reasonable options so that it is easy for the reviewer to quickly pick one and move on. Take pride in everything you send to someone who could positively or negatively affect your career.Looked upon another way, approach each assignment as a sole practitioner, with no one to review or criticize or correct your work. Assume the client will rely on this. Just because it's marked “Draft” does not give you the latitude to turn in crappy work. Don't make any senior person read anything you don't consider totally done, otherwise you are wasting their time. Only turn in things that are 100% done.
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- 4: Never Consider Anything That Goes to a Senior Colleague or Client to Be a “Draft”
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- TIP 12 Develop the confidence to break the general principles of style — completely, ruthlessly, and shockingly — if doing so will help your client win.