More than once I've been heard to utter "To think I went to law school for this!"  It's a common refrain when I've been down on my hands and knees connecting or reconnecting computer cables or wiping ink off of my hands after fixing the copier.   Law school has not prepared me for all I could expect as a solo attorney in the legacy planning field.

Leanna Hamill is a Massachusetts estate planning and elder law attorney with a great blog that has a unique voice.  She recently had a post on things she wished she had learned in law school.  One of my favorites is how to break down a client's wheelchair and put it in the car while it's raining.   Another of her lessons that I may never finish learning is how to handle the death of a client.

Here are my own additions to things I wish they taught in law school: 

Countering Age Discrimination:  I'm not talking about the discrimination that keeps older people from getting jobs or housing.  I'm talking about the assumption that anyone elderly must be mentally incompetent, or at least easily confused.  I see this in doctors, bankers, other lawyers and just about all walks of life.  Yet it's an unfair and inaccurate characterization that assumes all older people need help managing their affairs.  I'd just like to have my clients meet my 87-year-old client Helene or my own grandmother for them to realize how absurd it is.

Tampering Your Inner Mongo:  Mongo is the name that legal columnist James McElhaney gives to the inner beast that comes out when we are attacking or on the attach.  Mongo is usually asleep when I'm working because most of the time there is rarely an adversarial relationship between my client and someone else.  Whether we are drafting a buy/sell agreement, negotiating a lease or counseling on a living trust we're looking for "win/win" situations.  Yet sometimes, most often in a guardianship, conservatorship or other probate matter, I find that representing my client means pressing my client's case against an opposing side.  In those instances, Mongo wakes up and joins me in the fray.  That's not necessarily a bad thing when I can keep Mongo on a leash and use him to my advantage.  But it's dangerous when I must go from a phone call with opposing counsel, no make that oppositional counsel, to a meeting with a family to provide legal counseling after their mother has died.  Mongo doesn't belong in those meetings, but it's hard to tamper down the flames of righteous indignation so quickly. 

There's more, but I'll leave those for another post.