Miracle On 34th Street — Movies for Lawyers — The Act Of Communication Point Of View

From Katherine:

In honor of the season, I want to tell you just why I believe every lawyer should watch Miracle On 34th Street at this time of the year.

I think that the essential attorney-client relationship is reflected in this wonderful film. Is there a client better suited to a lawyer than Kris Kringle to Fred Gailey? Fred takes on a real challenge when he agrees to represent Kris.  First, he and Kris are friends. He has already extended himself in friendship by allowing Kris to live in apartment. Some lawyers would say, “I need to find another attorney for you – I am too close to you to have any kind of distance.” But Fred is able to remain Kris’ friend AND represent him. There are some amazing attorneys with whom I work who are able to do this, too. And they are in my heart whenever I watch this film.

The next thing that Fred does is that his decision to represent Kris causes his big firm to decide that they can do with one less associate. They want him to relinquish the representation. But he refuses and opens his own firm instead. There are wonderful attorneys I know who at this very moment are either happy they did the same thing at some point in time. There are others who are standing on the brink at this very moment. They are in my heart this season as I watch this film.

The brilliance of that court room series of scenes – how Fred is able to come up with his amazing and creative way of “pulling it off” is truly inspiring to me every time I see this film. So many attorneys are just amazing to me – the fantastic ideas they come up with – the creative breaking with “the norm”. They are in my heart always.

 
TIP: Take a moment to reflect on how proud you are of what you have done this year.

Movies For Lawyers