K-0008 – Suit Up!

This is addressed primarily to male readers in “Big Law”, whatever that means. I really do not like the expression. And why male readers primarily? Well, they are the ones that need more help on this to be honest. I may get some flak for this, but hey, it is my blog. And with that said …

For a number of years, I was a volunteer coach of the Boy’s baseball team (K-0005 – Be a Mench). The Head Coach, who unlike me actually knew what he was doing, was Rob (Fish the Magish) Fishbaum. Coach Rob very often implored our young charges to “Practice like you play.” Think about that for a moment. I believe the same goes for just about everything in life. Practice like you play. Come prepared for every day as if it was Game 7 of the World Series. It is hard and it is tiring, but practice like you play physically and mentally. (And I should also note that I was once told by my own personal coach, Karen Hanna, never to use sports analogies.)

And the same goes for how you present yourself. I would never get on my road bike wearing jean shorts and a tank top. I suspect that neither would Tadej Pogacar. (Recover strong, Tadej.) I would never go to a mine site (nor would I be allowed in mind you) if I was not wearing proper safety gear including a long sleeve shirt and reflective vest. There is a proper uniform for every situation, and I will confess as my mother and sister will agree, I always liked a uniform, even as a kid. In my world, you play a better game, whatever that game is, when you start the game in a clean and pressed team uniform (Sorry again, Karen)

Big Law had, and in my world should again have a proper and professional team uniform, that being a suit and tie. We are very well paid professionals and that is how very well paid professional lawyers play. Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule, such as maybe a face-to-face Sunday morning meeting, should they ever happen again or a Friday before a long weekend. Even then, those are not rationalizations for flip flops and shorts.

On uniforms, I am reminded of a Sunday morning of over 30 years ago being in the Air Canada lounge at YYZ going somewhere. In walked Don Lindsay, the then Head of Mining at CIBC and thereafter the long standing CEO of Teck, wearing a suit and tie. I asked Don where he was going, to which he responded, “Australia”. Practice like you Play. You never know when will be called into the game. And to me, it is not the same to keep a suit and tie and shirt (and shoes – don’t forget the shoes) behind the door in your office “just in case”. Don’t practice “just in case”.

My father was a lawyer as well. He was a municipal lawyer and was the long standing City Solicitor in Windsor, Ontario, a civil servant with a great pension. While for a good four years before his retirement he referred to his wardrobe as being in “shut down mode”, he continued to put on a suit and tie every day before going off to work at City Hall. No “just in case” and I don’t buy the “times have changed”. The pendulum has swung way too far to the other side and now it is time to move it.

And one last anecdote on this which goes back to my first mentor, Steve Coxford. One night at Smith Lyons, I walked into the washroom and saw Steve changing into a tuxedo. I had myself attended a black tie wedding sometime recently before that evening and had rented a tuxedo, as one would do, so I thought. And so, for a middle class kid from Windsor, I asked Steve what was the obvious question as to where he rented his tuxedo. He turned and looked at me and smiled with a little sideway shake of his head and said, “Jay, every gentlemen owns his own tuxedo.” Lesson learned. A few years ago I regaled his two eldest sons with this story. They looked at each other and one said to the other, “That is so our Dad.”

And so, practice like you play for Game 7 and as Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother always said, “Suit Up”. You will feel better and you will play better. Trust me.