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An hour today is only 20 minutes. How do you do good legal work in that time?

Source: David A. Asiedu

An hour today is only 20 minutes. How do you do good legal work in that time?
MarryRight Ghana

Just yesterday, it was Christmas. But we’re already in April. Where did the time go?

Many years ago, one had 14 days to file a defence. You still have 14 days. But 20 years ago, 14 days had more time in it than it does today. I don’t know how.

But, as in the old days, one must be a good lawyer today. Despite the scarcity of time.

How do we do great work when we have a shipload of work, and when today’s hour seems to have just 20 minutes?

If you work in a team, that’s a start. But, whether you work in a team or solo, you can’t just put your head down for hours until every task is done. You need a better strategy – a deliberate strategy – to satisfy all your clients.

I’m talking about time management and energy management.

You need a daily arsenal of delegation, formulas, templates, precedents, hacks (yes, I know), etc. to do it. You’re good at your work. But are you good at ‘work-around-work’?

There are many examples. My aim is to have you thinking about some of them daily, if you aren’t already. Just to continue doing your great work, but in today’s 20-minute hour.

  • You can delegate.
  • You can break down the whole into smaller parts.
  • You can start with precedents.
  • You can start with outlines/skeletons.
  • You can work with placeholders.
  • You can start with the controlling law/idea (and work on other parts later).
  • You can start working on the BIDO (Big Issue/Desired Outcome).
  • You can start as soon as you have your MALI (Minimum Acceptable Legal Information).
  • You can work in pairs.

The early-start tips are supposed to create momentum. There’s magic in motion. But you must do all the preparatory work (e.g. research) eventually.