Santa’s Perfect Present

The best part about working in a busy mountain law firm this December is the annual office holiday party. Of course, everyone adheres to reasonably appropriate standards of behavior, given that attorneys are regulated by the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The partners award bonuses to the associates. Partners roast turkey, duck, chicken, chestnuts, hors d’oeuvres or the managing partner. The associates flirt with each other while imbibing eggnog if they are single – and maybe even if they aren’t. Some attorneys bring plus-ones who would much rather be at home on the couch curled up with a movie. Or a book. Sometimes the attorneys themselves would be more comfortable in front of a fireplace curled up with books.

That’s because most attorneys have an affinity for reading and writing. This affinity got them through the countless casebooks required in law school. Some attorneys are more on the nerdy side than others. I once gifted a former supervisor with The Reflective Counselor, a collection of law-related vignettes, but he found it too cerebral and exchanged it for Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style (which would have been a better gift because I often edited his memos and corrected his grammar.) When I interviewed for my current job, I saw a copy of A History of White People on my future boss’s desk, which made sense because civil rights law is his passion. If it weren’t an interview, I would have mentioned less highbrow literature on the same theme, namely Stuff White People Like, which recommends coffee, roller derby and North Face fleeces. With coronavirus making everything go virtual, lawyers look smarter and more professional over a Zoom chat if they have books behind them. One of my friends knew he’d hit it off with his new attorney after taking a look at a bookshelf and seeing many of his favorite statistics books there.

What else can you gift a lawyer? Well, office supplies are a practical gift. You can give someone personalized “Esquire” stationery. Or a tumbler mug. Or a calendar with daily meditations reminding the lawyer in your life to take it easy. Or an invitation to a free Colorado Lawyers Helping Lawyers session, which is a weekly support group for lawyers who’ve had any sort of well-being issues – but which I think is a fantastic place to network and talk shop in a candid but confidential space. Or soaps, candles, lotions and jewelry.

The Christmas season is just as much about giving gifts as receiving them, though. Some lawyers find it rewarding to volunteer at soup kitchens, homeless shelters and places at which they minister to the neediest by giving out pro bono legal services. Lawyers give their time, their money and their innermost selves to the causes about which they care. The opportunity to give back during the most wonderful time of the year may be Santa’s perfect present.

Published in the December 2020/January 2021 issue of The Docket, the Denver Bar Association magazine. https://issuu.com/dbadocket/docs/001235_docket_decjan2021_issuu/s/11496345