In this article Aditya Shrivastava, Content Marketing Manager at iPleaders offers some really interesting insights on what can lawyers learn from the wolves.

Human beings from a time immemorial have a tendency to compare themselves with animals. Be it India or Greece, mythology has played a tremendous role in creating god-like figures. From the Chinese horoscopes to social media apps, the tendency of human beings relating themselves to these innocent and, at times, wild creatures, has not changed.

Humans not only try to relate themselves with animals but they also try to relate human behaviour and profession with animal instinct. For example you might have seen general comparisons like being intelligent like an elephant, swift like a panther, notorious like a monkey, loyal like a dog and lazy like a cat. All of this has worsened with the superhero fantasies coming in the foreplay. Spiderman, Catwoman, Black Panther so on and so forth.

Although there is nothing wrong with the comparisons, however, I am a lawyer and I cannot help but argue. In my opinion, I wouldn’t want to be compared to a different species. I think that is equivalent to degrading the very genesis of the other species present around us. If I ask you today, can you be as loyal as a dog? It is humanly not possible to do so. Can you be as swift as a leopard? I challenge you to come even close to it. It is unfair that humans compare themselves with other majestic beings.

There is something we must do. We as human beings have an edge over all the other beings. We can observe and learn to become better. This is the only possible explanation to how and why human beings are probably better than the rest. We have evolved ourselves in a way that we can learn and become better at everything we do.

A couple of days ago my colleague and I were having a discussion about spirit animals. The discussion was too interesting. I went ahead and checked what my spirit animal is. It turned out I am a wolf! I started reading about it and realized that there is a lot to learn from the wolves, especially if you are a lawyer.

You might have heard about the wolves pack and a lone wolf. It can be easily compared to your law firm or your company or yourself. If you are a part of the pack, then you are given certain responsibilities and you are expected to fulfill them. Just like wolves, you are expected to contribute to the collective goal of the organization and strive hard to achieve it. As much as you are a part of the pack, you are also all by yourself like a lone wolf.

I would like to quote a phrase from a motivation speech by Fearless Motivation, “The wolf on the top of the hill
 is never as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill. It’s not easy doing it alone. But if you keep going, stay true to yourself. It will be worth it in the end.” This holds true for lawyers too. There are certain lawyers and law firms who have made it to the top. If you keep striving towards your goal, you are bound to make it big.

So what can we learn from the wolves?

1. Wolves Are Relentless

Wolves are the most relentless species when it comes to pursuing their needs. Be it shelter, water, food or protection, they do not tend to take rest until they find them. This is a mindset that needs to be acquired as lawyers. We should work towards our goal relentlessly and make sure that we do not give up.

If you have watched the movie Jolly LLB, you’d be able to recognize the main character, Jolly. A novice to the law scenario, he works hard and wins an impossible case. If you think that is fiction, it’s not. A lot of juniors in litigation firms or who are assisting independent lawyers go to the court to appear or assist without any previous formal training. They are made to learn how to survive and make a place for themselves. Not just litigation, even in corporate practice, unless you are relentless and have a goal set to meet your deadlines, you won’t be made a part of the pack.

Imagine if you were a wolf who was carefully trained by a mother wolf. Won’t you be better at meeting your ends? Don’t you think if Jolly knew how to draft or he knew how criminal law works, wouldn’t he have conveniently avoided the obstacles? If you are relentless or are relentlessly striving towards becoming a lawyer, you can check out courses like these to provide you some direction.

2.  Wolves Are Fearless

If you are a Game Of Thrones fan, you might have noticed that the strongest support of the Starks are probably the wolves. Nymeria, Arya Stark’s direwolf, fearlessly saved her from King Joffrey. Bran’s direwolf saved him from an alleged assassin. Jon Snow’s direwolf, Ghost, fought to save Samwell Tarly and Gilly. When Nymeria was made to abscond, she left alone and fought against all the odds, ultimately leading a pack of gray wolves.

A lawyer’s life is full of such challenges. A friend of mine once told me about a certain judge who disposed of matters pretty quickly. However, the judge did not give two hoots about the self-esteem of the advocates appearing before his bench. His disregard towards one’s integrity was so strong that he would pass derogatory statements against the advocates in any way he would deem fit.

In a matter of two months, he had already referred over five advocates to the bar for disciplinary action. When my friend appeared before him with a partner of her firm, the judge left no stone unturned to mock the partner. After that one incident, going to that judge’s court was a nightmare for her. However, she fought the fear by appearing before that judge at every opportunity provided to her.

This is a minor incident. My best friend’s father started off as a corporate lawyer in Uttar Pradesh and eventually moved to Patna to start his criminal practice. His struggle is unmatchable. He started off by networking with individuals who weren’t all black and white. Once he became famous, he used to get calls at home warning him to take a case or bear the consequences. It was probably the worst fear someone could instill in him, however, he ensured that he fights them all and continues what he does. Today, he is one of the most celebrated lawyers in Patna.

The struggle of being a lawyer can be extreme, however, it depends on you whether you can be that wolf who can fight the worst of fears and come out victorious.

3. Wolves Never Look Back

This is one quality of wolves which is admirable.

A wolf never looks back and keeps marching towards his goal. There are a lot of circumstances in a lawyers career when they need to forget the past and keep marching towards betterment. The mistakes are inevitable. My friend, who used to work for reputed FMCG company, told me of an incident where in a certain decision of the high court, the company was directed to stop an advertisement with immediate effect.

My friend’s boss asked him to convey it to the marketing team. The marketing team was to send instructions to the advertising agency to stop airing the advertisement. As he boarded his flight back home, he dropped in a mail to the marketing team. After his flight landed, roughly about 3 hours later, he got a call from his boss to check whether he has conveyed it to the team or not, to which he answered in affirmative.

However, the next day the advertisement was aired on TV. He got a call from his boss again asking if he had called the marketing team to ensure that the advertisement was stopped. He replied saying he had mailed the team. His boss asked him to recheck. Turned out the phone went into airplane mode before the mail was sent. As a result, there was a contempt case filed against their company.

Incidences like these are regular. The question is what are you doing to overcome them? Are you deterred from such incidences and walking away? Or are you overcoming them like a wolf?

When I was going through a tough phase in college where my aspirations of becoming a journalist didn’t seem feasible anymore and my career in law wasn’t taking shape, I was in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t see beyond “what a terrible mistake I have made”. I was on the verge of giving up my career.

It was then that I decided I needed to be better at my game. I started researching on what I could possibly do and landed on this course by NUJS Kolkata. I received good insights on what could I possibly do after my graduation and increased my knowledge. My approach towards my career was more focused and as a result, I got an offer from an MNC. I knew that my life changed for good.

So, when I read about the wolves, I realized that I am that lone wolf who has to climb up to reach the pack. I was hungry and relentless. I tried overcoming my fear and never looked back.

I leave it for you to decide. Can you be the wolf?