The Power of Nice

Admit it — most folks think that attorneys are jerks.  Oh sure, your attorney is okay … but deep inside you believe that all the other lawyers in the world are idiots.

That’s why it’s so refreshing to run into a lawyer who’s a class act.

Last week, I received a call from a legal assistant named Diane who was calling from Denver, Colorado.  She was trying to get a deposition set up here (in Portland, Maine) and had called several reporting agencies trying to schedule a conference room.  She couldn’t find a room in which to schedule the deposition.

Somehow she got my name and asked if I had a conference room that could be used for a quick one-hour telephonic deposition.  My conference room was free and I gladly offered it to her. 

Diane asked if there was a charge for the use of the room and I told her no.  It was no big deal.

A few days later a man showed up for the deposition and I got him set up along with the court reporter and a speaker phone.  As far as I was concerned, it was just common courtesy to help out another lawyer. 

End of story, right?

Not exactly.  Today I received in the mail a gift basket (from Baskets By Rita) filled with tortilla chips, salsa, cookies, chocolate, instant cocoa mix and Rocky Mountain marshmellows, cinnamon toffee peanuts, Colorado River Rocks (candy) and other snacks.  This unexpected package came with a handwritten note from a lawyer in the firm thanking me for my hospitality and the use of my conference room.

What a delightful gesture!

I know it’s a little thing.  But this thoughtful gift has won this lawyer big points in my book.  I have put the name of this attorney and his firm in my address book and he is now my lawyer in Colorado.  If I ever need legal assistance from someone locally in Denver, he will be the person I call.  In addition, if I can ever refer someone to a lawyer in that state, he will be my first choice.

All because he was nice.

He didn’t need to be nice.  But he was, and I won’t forget it.  Somehow, I’ll try to be nice in return.  It may not happen right away — but it’ll happen.

That’s the power of nice.