The American Dream - rising star status and wealth - cannot be achieved in today's society unless the lawyer who is called upon to advocaate a case or a cause is politically correct. Moving up, getting ahead, making the right impression and earning the confidence of your colleagues in the legal profession now depends upon your political correctness and whether you are persuasive and professional.
This book not only explores the bright line rules for legislation and litigation but also prepares the legal professional to use those rules. What you say, what you do and what you believe determine your political correctness. The lawyer who achieves political correctness will get the best results in litigation and a never-ending supply of satisfied clients. The ambitious law professional with the brightest prospects; the lawyer who wields the greatest influence among lawyers and judges; and the lawyer who enjoys the best reputation within any organization is the politically correct lawyer.
Litigation is propelled forward by the reptillian stem of the human brain, and the over-achieving litigator drowns out the softer rhythms of human nature. The deposition is, however, more than pre-trial discovery because it is the first meaningful opportunity for the predator to make a sober appraisal of the prey. Impressions about strength and endurance are formed in the deposition. Facts are gathered, and admissible evidence is evaluated during and after the deposition. Credibility is tested. Decisions about settlement - whether settlement or trial is a wiser choice - emerge from the deposition. Without the deposition, the courtroom drama would be trial by ambush.
Political correctness is no longer a superficial catch phrase denoting that "you are cautious, and you do not offend colleagues." Political correctness has become a password to a whole constellation of essential personal attributes and qualities that pave the way to your success in advocating any position - "you are wise, you are effective and skillfull in testimony, your opinion is essential to a just result in litigation." This beatification of political correctness is nothing short of a paradigm shift - the highest compliment that lawyers and judges, your peers and your superiors can pay in today's society is to describe you as politically correct.
Competency is important, but political correctness is more important. A Harvard degree can make you popular among a small group of friends, but a lasting and sustaining reputation that you are a forward scout in the wilderness of the law is not possible unless you are perceived as politically correct. "Politically Correct" is not a label that you put on your resume, and it would look silly on your name badge. If you transgress the rules of political correctness, then your colleagues will perceive you as having a quality of "menacing vagueness." But if you are politically correct, then you will be viewed as ethical and self-confident. To be politically correct is to be a leader and a winner, and the spoils of war go the winner.
Write about what you know about, and because I am a lawyer who has advocated cases and causes with an incandescent sense of purpose, I frequently use the Politically Correct Lawyer as the prototypical politically correct person. However, this book applies to all occupations and all professions.
|
