I drew this back in 1999. My late grandmother had asked me for a drawing she could use as a Happy New Year card for the special turn of the century and millennium.
The pig is a symbol of good luck in Germany, typically used on New Year’s Eve.
Looking at the drawing today, it reminds me of something important for the practice of law:
Nobody builds complex things alone. At least very rarely.
And yet, lawyers are often trained as if they should. Especially in Germany, legal education can create the impression that a good lawyer must always know the answer to any question and stay fully in control.
But reality is different. Some of the best moments in my professional life involved asking others for help.
And luckily, I have encountered quite a few colleagues who are always ready to help. They include Carl-Christian Kramer, Dr. Alexander Raif, Tobias Krätzschmar, Emese Szilagyi, Gábor dr. Damjanovic, just to mention a few, especially outside WagArb.
I remember a difficult high-stakes ADR matter where insolvency risks suddenly popped up everywhere. Carl stepped in as co-counsel and helped guide the case to success.
And Tobias Krätzschmar took over multi-million transactions and arbitrations for me during personally difficult periods in my life when I simply needed to focus elsewhere.
That kind of support stays with you. I am grateful to have learned early in my career: asking for help is not weakness. It is trust. And professionalism.
Because sometimes the smartest thing we can do is admit that we cannot carry everything alone.
Who were the people that stepped in for you when you needed support?
DrawingFromThePast Collaboration CoCounsel ConflictResolution Arbitration HashtagMediation
𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴:
𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝟤𝟢𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘐𝘯𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 — 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 — 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.