How Tearing Out Bathroom Floors Looks Just Like Practicing Law

Roger inspecting the demo.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve undergone a remodeling project for two of the bathrooms in my home. Confession: I have a tendency to focus on my work, to the degree that I procrastinate mightily on important personal issues! I had procrastinated on replacing the floors in my bathrooms, to the point that obvious water damage existed in both bathrooms and the flooring had even peeled up in a few spots! Oops.

My procrastination in tackling my floor replacement project reminded me of how many of our clients procrastinate in getting their estate planning work done or addressing needed legal issues related to their businesses. The clients come in, often visibly embarrassed, and lower their heads in shame as they explain what happened, how they knew for a considerable period of time that the legal work needed to be done, but yet couldn’t quite get to it…

My first step, which turned out to be a wise one, was to contact our long-term client, Steve Brennan of Redwood Builders, LLC, , explain my procrastination with some

What have you done to my bathtub?

embarrassment, and ask for his help. Steve came over, inspected the bathrooms, worked with me to develop our “game plan” for proceeding, and gave me an estimate. However, as many of you know who have engaged in home construction projects, the best-laid plans can often go awry!In my case, the delivery date for my desired flooring was set and then postponed for several weeks by the big box store. This waffling on the delivery date created some need for flexibility in rescheduling the project. Then, upon further inspection, Steve discovered rot under the floor of the master bathroom, and repair would include additional support for the bathtub. This extra work was unanticipated and required additional hours beyond what was estimated. A Second Confession: If truth be told, I must admit that I undoubtedly contributed to the extent of this problem due to my own procrastination …

Roger approves of the finished product.

Rather than becoming frustrating at the variations in the “game plan,” I often chuckled because it reminded me so much of the practice of law. Sometimes, despite the best-laid plans, the actions or inactions of other parties involved in a case cause the anticipated dates for completion of legal projects to change. And, just like the rot under my flooring, sometimes (in fact often!) when lawyers dig into problems, unanticipated issues are uncovered requiring additional analysis and work to resolve. And, every now and again, just as I unfortunately contributed to the problems due to my procrastination, I need to tell my clients that their legal issues have grown more complex due to their inaction!

Finally, Steve faced issues similar to what any business owner faces. He had other customers who needed help besides me, requiring him to juggle projects and have others from his team help out with the work. And one day Steve’s headlights went out in his truck, causing him to leave early to be able to drive safely in the darkness of our Seattle late afternoons in winter.

Similarly, lawyers often (in fact, nearly always!) have to juggle the needs of various clients and the unexpected happenings of life. I continually need to collaborate with my team to ensure all client projects continue to move forward, and appreciate that I have such talented attorneys to work with! A Final Confession: I often take deep breaths, and occasionally say a bad word or two, when life seems to “happen” at the worst possible moments in terms of my workload…

Thankfully, as you can see, Steve’s hard work and his team’s trustworthy performance, coupled with my humor and patience, resulted in beautiful “new” bathrooms!

Photos: Stacey Romberg