I have always considered good judgment to be the most important quality a lawyer can possess. Today, however, I want to focus on its flip side — the really dumb mistake.
The element of judgment often comes down to decision-making ability. Lawyers face a plethora of decisions every day: advising clients, choosing tactics, etc. The choices are multiple, and most of them are wrong, or at least inferior. Selecting and recommending the best alternative requires superior judgment — common sense in some cases, more refined wisdom in others.
