The Grass may not be Greener

One of the worst things about being a solo practitioner is that there is no one to help when you are  under the weather or need a holiday. However, judging by today's report about Nestlé's trademark lawyer, Joanne Ling who qualifies as  TIMES  Lawyer of the Week for her role in suppressing the colour purple as a sign (discussed here), things are not always better when you work in a large organisations for large clients. This is what she says about her worst day as a lawyer - in case you do not subscribe to The Times

Solo support from Boots

What was your worst day as a lawyer?

The day I went to work with flu because I had an evidence deadline. I fainted on the train and had to be carried off, which was embarrassing. Nonetheless I was at my desk by 8.30am, without a voice and feeling dreadful. The client signed the evidence at 5.30pm and I left the office after 6pm.

 So maybe we should all be rushing off to get our flu jabs so as not to let our clients down. It might not be a bad idea to plan ahead so that the deadlines are not quite so deadly. If you don't have an expensive docketing system you can always afford a Marco trial to see how knowing the deadlines can help you manage the load. Managing the client may be another matter. Ringing another Solo in times of need has been known to work too.

I am hoping some big firm employers will step up and explain how they support their staff in times of stress too. Surely you can't all suffer like this?