Be Prepared.

By Rice Divorce Team | January 09, 2018

One of the first things that I learned as part of the Rice Law was preparedness. After just one week on the job, I learned the first and possibly the most important lesson Memphis divorce attorney Larry Rice could teach me. BE PREPARED! Know everything there is to possibly know about your case and your client. Larry Rice taught me that if you are 80-90% prepared then you only have to improvise 10-20% of the time. It is a lot easier to come up with 10-20% than it would be to come up with 50% or more.

I know what you’re thinking… “Linsey, you should already know this by now.” Of course, we are taught this all through school and life. We learn this from parents, teachers, scouts, and many other people and places. But to really know what being prepared is doesn’t come from a life lesson. It comes from an experience. I’m sure you have all been in class waiting anxiously as your name is called to present a report or to give a presentation. It is nerve-wracking because you have spent so much time on it (hopefully). You’re sitting there praying that everything you know doesn’t disappear from your mind as soon as you walk up to the podium. For those who went to law school, you know what I am talking about. The culmination of everything you have learned in an entire semester boils down to one three-hour test. Imagine that same feeling, but magnified. You aren’t dealing with just grades out in practice. You are dealing with people’s lives. When the result of a person’s life is in the balance, when the course of a case is determined by what happens at that hearing or trial, it means so much more to be prepared. The Rice Law spent many hours preparing for the day that I learned this important lesson and because we knew as much as we possibly could about our client and our case, we were able to control the outcome of a crucial step in that case. It is often said knowledge is power. I believe that now more than ever and will always be thankful that I learned that lesson after my first week as a clerk for the Rice Law instead of my first appearance in a courtroom as an attorney.

This blog is written by the law clerks and interns of the Rice Divorce Law. We document our experience working with Memphis Divorce Lawyer Larry Rice and Memphis Divorce Lawyer Nick Rice, as well as other members of the Rice Divorce Law. The Rice Law represents clients in Tennessee, including Memphis, Nashville, Jackson, Columbia, Johnson City, and Knoxville. We hope these blog posts will be interesting and show the evolution of students as they move towards being divorce and family lawyers and paralegals. The statements in these posts should not be used as legal advice about divorce or family law.
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