Things Lawyers Like - Wearing a Suit

Business casual may have taken over corporate culture in the early 1990s, but the suit remains the most favored item in the quintessential lawyer’s closet. Sure, your typical law firm is stocked with male and female lawyers dressed in some version of a button down shirt and dress pants, but this reality does not sit well with tried and true lawyers. The type-A, go-getter attorney lives by the mantra that if you want to play with the big kids, you better put down the country club gear and suit up.

Most of today’s lawyering involves the filing and serving papers or riding herd on a couple of conference calls, but it definitely does not include extensive face-to-face meetings with clients or the court. Nevertheless, nothing helps a lawyer channel his or her Atticus Finch like putting on a suit. If a suited lawyer has a long day that involves the ordering of Chinese food while reviewing documents in a dimly lit office, that lawyer will feel true accomplishment. At this moment, the lawyer can picture him or herself in every motion picture based on a John Grisham novel.

Lawyers generally believe that the more powerful or important the event, the more aggressive the suit must become. Representing a client in a big M&A deal? You better break out a dark suit with thick pin stripes. Heading to a bar association meeting for some networking? Dust off your dressiest duds for maximum impact. Meeting some old high school friends for dinner? Suit up if you want to show them who has moved to the head of the class. Running for President as a woman? Rock the pant suit, day in and day out.

Maybe the mystique of the suit is just a result of lawyers trying to meet expectations. Who pictures a lawyer dressed like a JC Penney employee anyway? Or maybe Men’s Wearhouse is to blame. Lawyers are just like everybody else. Put them in a well-fitted suit and they can’t help but love the way they look.