This would constitute an emergency. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“No worries! How can I help you?” I say with intentional enthusiasm, trying to hide my real thoughts and their sarcastic tone: You have no idea how much I wanted to drop everything on my Sunday morning to take care of your fake emergency!
Every lawyer, and definitely every in-house lawyer, has had this experience at least once!
Educating your clients about the definition of “emergency” is a solid investment. Personally, I like starting with Black’s Law Dictionary. An emergency has at least one of the following: “involves injury, loss of life, damage to the property, or catastrophic interference with the normal activities.” I can work from there to tailor our own definition to our own circumstances.
Then comes the hard part — stay strong. Do not carve out exceptions and exceptions to the exceptions. Resist the urge! If you give in, I promise you’ll end up moonlighting as a workplace firefighter on your nights and weekends! And believe me, once you create an “emergency” slippery slope, you’ll see fires all over the place.
But we will never be able to avoid fake emergencies altogether, as, at the end of the day, it is ultimately a judgment call. Besides, defining a real one is a lifelong skill to work on. It’s equally important to work on how to respond to a fake emergency. Sort of like “fake crisis management” skills.
To perfect my own fake emergency response skills, I crowdsourced “How do you respond, if at all, to that fake emergency call on Sunday morning?” Here is what I learned from the masters.
There’s Always Monday Morning
One thing is certain, and that’s that Monday always follows Sunday. Jamie Szal, Maine state and local tax attorney at Brann & Isaacson, said, “I respond by acknowledging the email, and indicate I will address their questions first thing Monday morning.”
She has a point. It makes a lot of sense to ask yourself whether the “emergency” can wait until Monday to be properly addressed during normal business hours. And whoever is raising the “emergency” will appreciate having their concern acknowledged before then.
Flexibility And Knowing Your Clients Is Key
Flexibility and knowing your clients will determine how you draw boundaries. (Just don’t forget to draw boundaries!) Claire E. Parsons, partner and owner at Adams, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing, said, “Since my clients are government officials, it usually is an emergency if they contact me on a Sunday. However, they usually email or text first to check availability and give me a heads up. I think that’s a good way to go about it. But, if I can suggest a solution that doesn’t require a lot of activity on the weekend, I definitely do that.”
She explained, “Part of the satisfaction I get with my job is that my work enables officials to do important work for the community. That is especially true for emergency situations. It’s not always the most convenient but it is meaningful, and my job allows enough flexibility during the workweek that I can bend sometimes after hours.”
Preemptively Defining Emergency Is Key
Clarity about what constitutes an emergency is paramount. Marc Kaufman, partner at Rimon Law, said, “Sunday morning is my mental recovery so I can clear my head to perform best for my clients in the coming week. Would really have to be an emergency for me to respond on Sunday afternoon!”
He continued, “There are some ’emergencies’ that arise. For example, the client may realize that the last day due date has come up for a filing at the USPTO. However, if we are managing the case, we would have been sending the client reminders of this in advance. Another example is a due diligence issue that arises in the context of M&A. Sometimes issues arise at the last minute that need to be addressed before closing. Both of these instances are rare.”
Some people have more strict definitions. As Lisa Borgeson, senior director at NetApp, said, “You could always try the definition I used with my kids — ‘unless you’re bleeding from an artery, don’t bother me right now with X, Y, Z.’”
Likewise, Jenny Lynn (Cox) Sheridan, founder of JL Sheridan Law, explained, “Reminds me of what I told my teenage daughters was an emergency and they could call me at work: 1) flood or fire; 2) someone trying to break into a house; or 3) someone in house bleeding or unconscious. Fortunately, never had a true emergency.”
Triaging competing crises (that is, that compete with each other and your time and life generally) is one of the most difficult parts of practicing law, especially in-house. It’s also highly subjective, even though it doesn’t always feel that way. There are a million reasons that your clients identify something as an emergency that you might see as a Monday morning to-do item.
The important thing is to be on the same page. Set guidelines from the start, and don’t be afraid to communicate. After all, the only person who gets to define what an emergency is — and what takes up your precious time — is you.
Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.