Hope is not a strategy and three other things I learned from the legendary Bob Popeo

Many of you have asked me to tell you a story about Bob Popeo, one of the greatest lawyers of the modern era.  I have many truly unbelievable stories having had the privilege of working closely with Mr. Popeo on some of my most significant cases over the past thirty years.  The urge to share those stories is strong since, as the also great Father Unni told us at Bob's funeral yesterday, telling stories is a way to honor a person important to us, and to grieve that they will not be physically with us for the rest of our lives. 

Alas, most of these stories are not mine to tell, including because of the privilege that attaches to what lawyers do, but I do want to share with you just four of the many things I learned from this legendary person.

First, hope is not a strategy.  When we are at our lowest, facing our most serious challenges, our instinct is to hope that those challenges will abate, and we will be able to avoid doing what might otherwise be necessary to overcome them.  Maybe they won't notice.  Maybe the damage won't be as great as it seems it will be.  Maybe we'll find an escape hatch in the meantime.  Countless times Bob told clients and colleagues expressing these wishes that such hope is not a strategy.  Facing our challenges head on is often unavoidable.  Deliberating on the best course to overcome those challenges, including balancing the risks and benefits of the alternatives we really have as opposed to those we wished we had, is critical to achieving the best outcome possible.  That's true in the law but it is also true in pretty much every other part of our lives.

Second, and this is related to the first thing, there's no substitute for hard work.  Bob Popeo won much, much more than he should have.  Yes, part of the reason for that incomparable success is that he was smarter than most people, with better instincts.  But another reason for his success was that he worked harder than anyone else.  Bob's car was always one of the last ones out of the One Financial Center garage and he always got into it with things he would be reading at night and on the weekends.  He always knew the facts and the law better than his opponents because he and his team did the hard work necessary for that to be the case.  Bob applied that same work ethic to every other aspect of his life.

Third, listen to what your clients need first and do whatever you can to meet those needs.  Bob loathed Mintz pitch decks that were all about us.  He wouldn't use them.  He always preferred to know what was on a would-be client's mind before a first meeting and then preparing materials tailored to that.  If that wasn't possible, he would begin any first meeting by asking what do you need and how can we help?  And then listening.  It is only human to want to try to convince a potential client that you're worthy of their trust, but Bob knew that listening first was much more important than how many offices your firm has, or how many practices, or what accolades you've received.

And Bob kept listening, and not just about legal needs but about also about wants -- help with a school, a sporting event the client might want to attend, an organization to which the client wanted an introduction.  Bob wanted to know what everyone needed, or just wanted, and how he could help satisfy that need or want.

Finally, know your value.  Yes, MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski talks about this but Bob was espousing it when she was still in school.  I cringed the first time I heard Bob tell a client that he was sure the client could find someone who would lose the "bet the company" case at hand for half of what Bob was charging but Bob knew his team's value.  He knew he was going to give his all for his client, and that his all was better than anyone else's.  He had no problem charging his clients (other than his countless pro bono clients) what that was worth.  Of course, any relationship involves fairness and attorney-client relationships are no exception, but it isn't a one-way street.  Bob said no to plenty of work because the would-be client didn't attach the same value to it that Bob did.   

I could go on and on.  After all, no one has taught me more about being a lawyer, a boss, a colleague, and a citizen.  I hope these few things among the many things Bob taught me were worth the time you spent reading them.