Advocacy-Matters-Summer-2023

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Once booked, actively avoid scheduling conflicts
- and hold firm. If your presence is not
absolutely required at a meeting scheduled
during your vacation, don’t offer or acquiesce
to joining by Zoom. If your presence is absolutely
necessary, then reschedule the meeting
for before you leave or after you return.
3Tell your partners, associates and assistants
about your travel plans and talk about what
might come up on your files during your time
away. Assign someone to be responsible for
each matter in your absence if something
needs urgent attention. Draft a quick memo
to file to permit the assigned lawyer to come
up to speed quickly and effectively if needed.
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Schedule buffer time before you leave to tie
up loose ends. Don’t book a flight for the
evening that your trial ends.
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7Define in advance what constitutes a true legal
emergency sufficient to trump your boundary.
If you set the criteria in advance, it will be
easier to resist jumping in on someone else’s
idea of urgency.
If the anxiety of not knowing what work
emails await your return outweighs the joy
of fully unplugging, then set aside a particular
time of day to check your work inbox and flag,
forward, delete or respond to your heart’s
content for a half hour. Early mornings or just
before dinner work best for me. Then, leave
your phone in the hotel room and gallivant.
4Tell your clients about your travel plans in
advance. Proactively send them an update on
their matter and answer their questions
before you go. Provide them with the contact
information for the lawyer assigned to their
matter. Let them know your return date.
6Set your out-of-office message in a way that
manages expectations. Don’t say you will be
checking email intermittently but may be delayed
in your usual response time. Say you will
be away, and you will respond on your return
date. Don’t invite email senders to call your
mobile if they have an urgent issue. Instead,
direct them to contact your assistant who
will be able to connect them to the assigned
lawyer taking responsibility for that matter in
your absence.
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Schedule even more buffer time on your return
to tackle your inbox and deal with any
urgent matters requiring your attention. Do
not plan a return flight for the night before
a trial. Pro tip: schedule your return flight for
Saturday, so you have Sunday at home to get
over jet lag and do laundry before jumping
back into your busy practice.
Notice what’s missing from this list:
no dictates or admonitions to others
about when they can and cannot
message you; no apologies for
taking time away; no explanations
about why you really need to unplug.
This is all about you and your
decisions, planning, actions and reactions
and not about anyone else
(take note, Jonah!).
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