Balancing Your Inner Superhero
Balancing Your Inner Superhero
By Florence Bruemmer
Comic book fans know that She-Hulk saved the world with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and S.H.I.E.L.D. She-Hulk aka Jennifer Walters also has struggled with her identify as an attorney. After Jennifer returned to practicing law after working with S.H.I.E.L.D., she stated, “Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. was one big, non-stop adventure. Now look at me. Standing around a lawfirm…This is where I should be. What I should be doing.”
Jennifer learned to embrace that law, and she had several superhero clients, including Spiderman. She represented Spiderman in a lawsuit for slander against newspaper editor, J. Jonah Jameson. She-Hulk ends up scantily clad a lot more than any of my fellow attorneys, but every day I see attorneys perform superhero-like actions. What tips can we take from Jennifer to balance our inner superhero with our attorney side?
Defend those without hope. Running a small firm and working on legal plans, you get the opportunity to help people with problems that are a giant force in their lives. We get to help tenants with housing problems. We get to assist people in family law emergencies. We can defend people against collection matters. We can secure families’ futures with estate planning. We can guard against unfair traffic matters.
Be a friendly, neighborhood attorney. A lot of people do not know many attorneys. By being courteous, we help the whole profession. Let your Superman and Wonder Woman (I know that I’m mixing Marvel and D.C. Comics references) shine through. You are a representative of the rest of superheroes. Like Superman and Wonder Woman, be polite to the public, opposing counsel, and court staff.
Don’t be a loner. The most successful superheroes work with a partner or are on a team. Batman has Robin and Alfred. We have our support staff, associates, partners, and law clerks.
Be organized. When superheroes fight, it looks like a dance. Luckily, we do not need to get physical, but we can be prepared with our checklists and systems. We need to conquer the big and the little every day.
Only turn into the Hulk when you need to. There are attorneys who consistently walk around as the Hulk. You never see the Bruce Banner side of them. Everything does not need to be a battle. There is no need to turn into the Hulk when someone wants to start a deposition at 1 p.m. instead of 2 p.m.
Know when to rest. My favorite scene in the Avengers was after the credits when all the Avengers were quietly eating at the shawarma restaurant after they saved the world. You have to rest and recharge to keep saving the world.
Help the community and legal world. The ways to help are countless. We can help on the legal side, such as working at volunteer clinics or hotlines or write a legal article for a local newsletter. We can help on the non-legal side, such as homeless shelters, churches, etc.
Commissioner James Gordon said to Batman: “You’re going to make a difference. A lot of times it won’t be huge, it won’t be visible even. But it will matter just the same.” . Keep saving the day (again and again).
Email: florence@bruemmerlaw.com
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