A lesson learned by a Candidate Legal Practitioner:
Read what you produce. Read it again, backward and consider what you send.
Disputes often arise as a result of error, mistake, or lack of consideration of potential consequences of what one has produced.
Serving articles at WerthSchröder Inc., I have learned not only the law, but also the art of presenting same.
Some invaluable nuggets of advice, courtesy of my Principal, Kay Schröder:
1. An error is an error. Full stop.
I began my legal training with instructions to conduct research, write letters, draft legal process and attend consultations with clients. The work drafted and submitted for review was often returned butchered with a red pen. As if that was not bad enough, the butchered A4 piece of paper would contain the words: “Read the … you produce!”. An error is an error. Full stop.
2. Read your work again, backward.
What our brains interpret, and our eyes see is sometimes different. I have learned to draft it, read it, give it 10 minutes, read it backward, read it forwards and to THINK before I send it.
3. Consider what you send.
This I have come to learn comprises many aspects. I have learned to consider the particular client I am producing the work for. I have learned to consider every word I use. And I have learned to consider the consequences.
I have reached the point where, two years down the line, I can say to my Principal yes, I read the … I produced, I read it backward, and I considered the consequences.
In other words, clients who receive legal advice from WerthSchröder Inc. can rest assured. We read what we produce. We read it again, backward and we consider the consequences.
Denna Kemp
Candidate Legal Practitioner, WerthSchröder Inc.
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