Page 27 - Pierce County Lawyer - May June 2024

Drucker’s student, George Odiorne, continued to develop the idea in his 1969 textbook Management Decisions by Objectives, which became assigned reading by many management schools. MBO was popularized by companies like Hewlett-Packard, Ford, GM, etc., who claimed it led to their success. Today more than 90% of U.S. companies operate according to Drucker’s philosophy. Before I move on, scholars who have studied the implication of Management by Objectives have observed that the objectives set by managers have often ignored employee subjectivity.
GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND OUTCOMES
Under goals, write down the reason(s) your client came to you. Then, under objectives, what objectives you and your client agreed upon that you planned to help them achieve. Finally, the outcomes of the representation and why. Since this is your personal work product, be honest. As an example, ‘dismissed due to notary testifying that s/he clearly remembered witnessing the client sign the document before sealing it’. Maybe there is an SOL that, without opening the file, the “Oh yeah, that is why this client’s name is on my tickler.”
I am hoping this article has given you some ideas to help with your practice. And one final thought... if there is ever a question about your representation skills, the cover sheet should answer that question.
Mace, C. A., “Incentives: Some Experimental Studies,” 1935.
Hill, N., “Think and Grow Rich,” The Ralston Society, 1937. Drucker, P., “The Practice of Management,” p. 119, Routledge, 1954.
Odiorne, G S., “Management Decision by Objectives,” p. 8, Pentice-Hall Inc., New York, 1969.
GOALS
Who sets our goals? For most of us, the client does. The client calls to consult with an attorney to find out if they can achieve their goals by seeking representation in a matter...sueing someone, divorcing someone, drafting a legal document. These are goals that the client wants us to help them meet. That is why they come to us, to accomplish them. As we discuss their goals, we should clearly define them. I have always found it best to write them down and, at the end of the consultation, go over them with the client.
OBJECTIVES
Are objectives necessary to reach our client’s goals? Are they important? RPC 1.2(a) provides [A] lawyer shall abide by a client’s decisions concerning the objectives of representation and, as required by RPC 1.4, shall consult with the client as
to the means by which they are to be pursued. RPC 1.4(a)(2) provides that the attorney is to reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client’s objectives are to be accomplished [to reach the client’s goals].
Notice that the Rules of Professional Conduct use the word ‘shall.’ After the client informs the attorney of what they need representation for and their goals, the attorney works with the client to establish what objectives are needed to be accomplished to reach their goals. We could call this Lawyering by Objectives. Maybe. Maybe not.
OUTCOMES
Now it is time to put everything in perspective. Before you take your client’s file to the storage room, paste a sheet of paper with three subheadings on the front cover. And, yes, you guessed it, label the three subheadings ‘Goals, Objectives and Outcomes.’ If you are paperless, how about creating a file labeled something like 'Outcomes'?
For my next article, I will take a look at the Power of Attorney and Durable Power of Attorney.
David Robert Shelvey is a solo practitioner in Sumner, WA. He is a member of the TPCBA, the Pierce County Lawyer Magazine and CLE Committee. He has been an attorney since 2015. He also volunteers as a president and cook for a local nonprofit. david@rockcraft.org.
Practice Tip
No guarantees. It goes without saying that as lawyers we should consider if we want to guarantee our representation’s outcome. It is tough to set objectives when in the back of your mind, you think human feelings may interfere with the outcome, especially when the client has failed to mention something that is a game-changer. e.g., So that is not you in the surveillance video? Explaining to the client what
the outcome could be is our responsibility. But it is better than losing after telling the client that this case is going to be a slam dunk in their favor and then reading about their attorney’s failures on social media.
May/Junel 2024 | PIERCE COUNTY LAWYER 27