By Simon Tupman
Publisher: Simon Tupman
Presentations
Price: £14.95

With apologies to Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that anyone providing professional services in the 24-hour, technology-driven 21st century has too much work, too little time in which to do it and must be in want of a life. Simon Tupman’s book aims to make a difference “to your clients, your colleagues but most of all to your own life”. Tupman practised as a solicitor in London for five years and now runs a leadership and communications consultancy in Australia.
Tupman takes a common sense, pragmatic approach to help lawyers reduce work-related stress, provide better services to clients and achieve greater personal satisfaction. The author suggests that there need not necessarily be a conflict between the notions that the point of life is to be happy and enjoy what we do and the corporate idea that it is all about commercial imperatives and exceeding financial targets.
Tupman is concerned that large firms’ tendency to think primarily in terms of economic rationalism creates high pressure, increasingly stressful and sometimes unhappy places to work, which benefit no-one. His central point is that if people are happy at work, the rest will follow.
Tupman hopes to redress the perceived imbalance and make us think of the human consequences of our working practices. He laments the fact that law schools virtually ignore the social dimensions of law. This theme is echoed in anecdotal evidence and comments provided by nine senior practitioners and former lawyers in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
The author provides 101 ideas for “working smarter, not harder” to make our personal and professional lives and those of our clients easier to manage, with the ultimate objective of greater satisfaction in every area of life. His firm belief is that it is “the human skills that get practical results”. Many of Tupman’s ideas are simple, basic tenets of sound management which apply equally to any area of business. Law firms in the UK have been relatively slow to recognise the benefits of effective marketing.
The chapters on connecting with existing clients and courting new ones provide invaluable advice (for example, on conducting client and market research) to all lawyers wishing to develop their practices. One or two of the ideas suggested by Tupman may sound Americanised to UK lawyers, but the underlying objective, to promote a pleasant and trustful working environment which is supportive to workers’ and clients’ professional goals makes sound business sense.
The strength of Tupman’s guide lies in offering genuinely helpful tips on how lawyers can make a practical, positive difference in our own lives and in those with whom we connect professionally. It is written from a lawyer’s perspective by someone who clearly understands the pressure felt by everyone who works in or with a law firm. At its simplest, it suggests how we can have more fun at work through engendering a greater team spirit and encouraging autonomy. At a more complex level it challenges conventional working practices. The book shows how we might change things for the better and go some way to improve the public perception of the profession.
If this useful little volume were essential reading in law schools it could do much to enhance the future personal and professional wellbeing of people starting out in the law. For more established practitioners, it should serve as a timely, intelligent and comprehensive reminder that they too can have a life. Eating energy-boosting bananas is just a start.
Jen Greenwood is a solicitor in DJ Freeman’s media department.