Happy 5 Year Anniversary BeldenBlaine!

Our firm just celebrated our 5th anniversary.  We generally advise clients who are forming new businesses to avoid partnerships like the plague.  But, like most lawyers, we broke our own rules. However, I have identified some factors that really increased our chances of survival:

  1. Have an odd number of partners. That way, when one person is grumpy, mad, unreasonable, etc., the other two can gang up on him/her and mock the recalcitrant partner back into submission.
  2. Corollary of Rule #1: if you are grumpy, mad, or unreasonable, be prepared to be mocked.  The worse you are at taking it – the more you get!
  3. Regardless of any objective evidence to the contrary, Katy is smarter, quicker, wittier, better looking, and universally more qualified than Scott or me in every situation.  As soon as we accepted that, life got much easier.
  4. Scott, our fearless leader, does a great job of always soliciting our opinions.  And then doing whatever he wants.  Probably a wise choice. Every kingdom (I mean partnership) needs a strong dictator.
  5. Don’t schedule partnership meetings for me that last more than an hour. Or 30 minutes. Or that require me to pay attention. Or contribute in any meaningful way.
  6. Private ownership rules do not apply to anyone’s personal stash of nice wine, Scotch, bourbon, or any other alcohol-related product.  Finders-keepers is the absolute law of the land.
  7. It’s perfectly acceptable to criticize a partner’s handling of a case – even if you don’t know any of the facts or law involved.
  8. Never take your partner’s side in a dispute with their spouse. They’re on their own.
  9. And most important: friends first, partners second!!!
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