Pursuing Perfection in the Practice of Law: An Imperfect Essay by an Imperfect Lawyer
Glenn E. Bradford1Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is. You’ll be afraid you can’t achieve it . . . . It’s your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead strive for excellence, doing your best.
— Sir Laurence Olivier2
As a young lawyer in the early 1970s, I remember having a heart-to-heart conversation with one of the senior partners in my law firm about my frustrations stemming from not having enough time to do my assignments to the exacting standards that I had previously set for myself. The older lawyer put his arm around my shoulder in a fatherly way and proceeded to commiserate with me about the problems of work quality inherent in the everyday practice of law. “Sam Lang (founder of the firm) has a saying about that,” he said. “Learning to practice law is learning to compromise with perfection.”3 Now Sam Lang, the dynamic and brilliant senior partner in our firm, had never struck me as a guy who did a lot of compromising. He was an extremely successful management lawyer who seemed to be absolutely driven in the pursuit of the interests of his clients and his firm. Sam Lang was also the strictest of taskmasters. He certainly had never seemed to be doing much compromising when he was reviewing my work. It was a revelation to me that Mr. Lang had struggled, as I was struggling, with reconciling the numerous tasks which a practicing lawyer must juggle, while ensuring a high-quality product.
“Learning to practice law is learning to compromise with perfection.” How true that statement seems to me now. It seems to me that in large measure my 37 years in the practice of law has been about trying again and again to affect that compromise as I have gone about the daily work of a practicing lawyer. Sometimes I have come up short. Sometimes I have gone too far. Sometimes I have gone way too far. But I have always tried to be acutely conscious of the necessity for making a practical and effective compromise between not quite good enough and absolute perfection in my work. And, after all this time, I am not certain that I have discovered a clear way to determine when enough is enough. When good cannot with reasonable additional effort be made into great? When one has succeeded in effectively reconciling the client’s conservative expectations with regard to attorneys’ fees with the lawyer’s natural desire for excellence in his professional performance? It seems to me that the decision as to when it is time to sign something and file it must, by necessity, be made on a case-by-case basis. And there never seems to be a perfect answer. Very good lawyers can disagree on identifying the critical point when it is time to deem the work completed.
It goes without saying that the resources of the client play a role in this process. A partner in a prominent firm at which I was interviewing years ago made the statement that “we’re fortunate in that our clients can afford to have us do good work.” Of course, the converse of that is certainly a true and realistic limitation of the quality of our work product as well. This maxim is especially prevalent in lawsuits where the means of getting paid clearly influences the process. Being paid by the hour no doubt encourages thoroughness and polish, while a contingent fee arrangement probably tends to promote careful time management and a ruthless efficiency.
I have always felt comfortable with appellate argument, I think in part because of the absence of a need to make this “quality” decision. The green light goes on, you start with your strongest points and you argue your position. A member of the court asks a question, you answer the question the best way you can. The red light goes on, you stop and sit down. Very little decision-making is necessary. Of course, the other task for the appellate lawyer, drafting the brief, presents the very essence of the problem of wrestling with perfection. There is almost always in play a tension between thoroughness and persuasion.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry4
I recall a brief which I helped prepare a number of years ago which was sent back and forth between two law firms until it had reached a state where it could have been published in the Harvard Law Review. It was 65 pages long and even had a table of contents. It was a veritable masterpiece. The only problem was that the federal judge to whom it was submitted came out to the bench at argument positively seething, stating that the brief was too long and that he would simply not read it. He actually ended his little diatribe by throwing our precious brief on the floor. I was very happy not to be the lead lawyer in that hearing. The district judge gave our lead lawyer a very hard time in his argument and soon after the hearing entered an order ruling against us. As stated, there can be a tension between thoroughness and persuasion. Sometimes, in order to be effective, we advocates must temper our desire to make it perfect with a healthy dose of realism regarding the attention span of the potential auditor. Sometimes less is more. This particular brief was a vivid and memorable example of that principle in operation.
We expect more of ourselves than we have any right to.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.5
As I have gone along in the practice of law, I have encountered lawyers who appeared to have more difficulty than most with reconciling their perfectionist tendencies with the practicalities of a routine law practice. British performance consultant Alison Clayton-Smith says that “[l]awyers seem particularly prone to perfectionism and some of its less helpful consequences.”6 I recall that, years ago, I became friendly with a young associate in a large firm in our same building. Upon encountering one of the senior partners in his firm in the elevator one day, I inquired about this young man, whom I had not seen in some time. “He doesn’t work for us anymore,” the senior partner said. “He was such a perfectionist about his work, he just couldn’t ever get anything finished and out the door,” the lawyer confided. “A simple memorandum took him months to do. We had to let him go.” In line with this, it has always seemed to me that a true perfectionist – we all have our perfectionist moments of course – might indeed have a very difficult time functioning as a practicing lawyer.
Highly-respected federal prosecutor Matt Whitworth of Kansas City was kind enough to review a draft of this article and had the following observations on his struggles with perfectionism:
Many of the lawyers I know are perfectionists. It has been my observation over the years that the attorneys who worry too much about being perfect are usually not very effective attorneys. The best attorneys are those who can think on their feet, decide upon a course of action, and keep moving forward. I know that as a young prosecutor at Jackson County I was always extremely worried about losing a case. As a result, I would work myself silly in the evenings and weekends because of the fear of failure. I have four children and this was not healthy for my marriage or my relationship with my children. I finally decided that worrying about a result you could not really control was a total waste of my energy. For many years now I have always tried to focus on always trying to do the right thing, being as prepared as possible without burning myself out, and trying to have a fun, positive and always professional relationship with my co-workers and opposing counsel. It works. I still enjoy coming to work every day.
The author can testify from personal experience that Mr. Whitworth’s approach to trying cases is very effective, and the author bears the scars to prove it.
Does “anal-retentive” have a hyphen?
—Alison Bechdel7
Generally, two distinct types of perfectionists have been identified. The first type of perfectionist has been referred to as the “inwardly focused perfectionist.” This individual tends to feel that they often fall short of their own expectations, that they are never good enough. The second type of perfectionist is referred to as the “outwardly focused perfectionist.” This person often feels that others seem to fall short in doing their jobs, whether in the workplace or at home. “Sometimes these perfectionists feel that they would be better off doing a job themselves rather than having to clean up after the sloppy work of others. This frustration with others can cause tension or conflict in relationships and can add extra burden to their own lives.”8 Dr. Monica Ramirez Basco has written in her book, Never Good Enough, that many people have elements of both types of perfectionism in their lives. “For example, someone you know may feel the anxiety associated with inwardly focused perfectionism at work, but feel more like an outwardly focused perfectionist in her relationships with others.”9
Perhaps most law school graduates would be identified as having at least some degree of perfectionistic tendencies. It would seem to go with the territory. A moderate degree of perfectionism might even be thought of as helpful. However, greater degrees of perfectionism carry certain negative and undesired aspects which might be amenable to counseling. There are a number of good self-help books available.10 Truly debilitating levels of perfectionism, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder,11 obsessive-compulsive personality disorder,12 or eating disorders, might require psychiatric management and perhaps even medication. Many lawyers probably just come to realize the futility of trying to be perfect in multiple areas and lower their expectations accordingly. One lawyer who reviewed a draft of this article said simply that she has a job, a husband, a kid, a house and a dog, and that she gave up on trying to be perfect a long time ago. If you have figured out how to handle your perfectionist tendencies all by yourself, then good for you. But we are focusing here on the otherwise mentally healthy, hard-working lawyer who has a degree of perfectionism that causes significant difficulties in effectively performing her daily duties and functions in the practice of law and perhaps also in her daily life.
Always live up to your standards – by lowering them, if necessary.
—Mignon McLaughlin13
Here’s a good summary of the issues by Dr. Monica Ramirez Basco from her book, Never Good Enough:
The reach for perfection can be painful because it is often driven by both a desire to do well and a fear of the consequences of not doing well. This is the double-edged sword of perfectionism. On the one hand, it is a good thing to give the best effort, to go the extra mile, and to take pride in one’s performance, whether it is keeping a home looking nice, writing a report, repairing a car, or doing brain surgery. It is commendable to attend to details, care about what others will think about your work, and constantly strive to do your best. On the other hand, when despite great efforts you feel as though you keep falling short, never seem to get things just right, never have enough time to do your best, are self-conscious, feel criticized by others, or cannot get others to cooperate in doing the job right the first time, you end up feeling bad.14
If you are a successful attorney but your daily work causes you to lead an unhappy life, then where are you? The goal is to have a career. You don’t want the career to have you.
For the careful writer, the hardest thing after starting is stopping. Every read-through uncovers some needed change, and the job is never really done until the copy is wrested from the diligent author’s grasp and sent off to the printer.
—Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner15
Now perfectionism in and of itself is probably not a bad thing. If I were about to have brain surgery, I would certainly hope that my chosen neurosurgeon would be the quintessential perfectionist. On the other hand, if I were having a pedicure, enlisting a perfectionist would not be all that critical. Maybe our task as lawyers, metaphorically speaking, is to be able to distinguish between the times when we are doing brain surgery and the times when we are trimming toenails.
A tendency towards perfectionism is no doubt a positive trait where it produces attention to detail, thoroughness, and a dedication to doing a first rate job for the client. Performance consultant Alison Clayton-Smith identifies these positive outcomes for perfection oriented lawyers: “Firstly, there are positive consequences to perfectionist behaviours. For instance, individuals will be keen to make sure they have been thorough in their research and the advice given is sound. There are unlikely to be emails with spelling mistakes. Attention to planning for every eventuality means that nasty surprises are less likely to occur.”16 Although a certain degree of perfectionistic attention to detail is no doubt an asset for a practicing lawyer, there is clearly a downside when such perfectionism becomes too pronounced. Surprisingly, I have not been able to find much written about the issue of perfectionism specific to the legal profession. However, as in most areas, the profession of lawyering is not totally unique, and many of the same problems we encounter are encountered in other business and professional endeavors.
“Perfection: A Sure Cure for Happiness”
—J. Clayton Lafferty and Lorraine Colletti-Lafferty17
The literature on the concept of perfectionism identifies a number of recognized negative aspects to an excessive focus on perfectionism. Fear of failure is one.18 A reluctance to make decisions is another. A high level of work dissatisfaction and stress is another. A litigator who is a strict perfectionist might be reluctant to actually go to trial, fearing that she was not properly prepared. A corporate lawyer who is a strict perfectionist might tend to procrastinate, fearing that he would not be able to prepare the perfect contract or deed. A lawyer in a firm with well qualified associates and paralegals might be reluctant to delegate. Another lawyer might have difficulty in maintaining a satisfactory work-life balance.19 If one’s perfectionistic tendencies are causing serious practice difficulties such as troublesome procrastination, the Missouri Lawyers’ Assistance Program (MOLAP) is available to provide assistance.20
When nobody around you seems to measure up, it’s time to check your yardstick.
—Bill Lemley21
As noted above, a common problem for perfectionists is the desire to have everyone around them be perfect, too. “Some perfectionists impose their too-high standards on everyone around them. They believe that their friends, parents, teachers, and siblings ought to be perfect too. They have a bad habit of criticizing anyone who doesn’t live up to their ideal or dares to make mistakes.”22 Anyone who has ever worked as an associate in a law firm knows that the partners in the firm are likely to vary in their quality standards for associate’s work. Clients can be the same way. So, even if we personally have learned to make our own effective compromises with perfection, those in authority may not have gotten the memo. A partner for whom I was working once cautioned me not to present him with anything until I had “done the absolute best I could possibly do.” I resisted the temptation to tell him that I would be back with my revised memo in a year or two. As we all know, different people see perfection in different terms. Being an associate in a law firm is a difficult proposition under the best of circumstances,23 but it can be absolutely maddening unless and until you can get a good handle on what a particular partner is looking for in terms of work quality. Having a true perfectionist as a boss could turn into a nightmare.
Discovery is an area in which many litigators struggle to find a balance between professional adequacy and bankruptcy-inducing overkill. Many experienced trial lawyers have contended that discovery is often overused.24 According to New York attorney Arthur Liman, overzealous young attorneys often string out discovery beyond reason. “They keep searching and searching and searching, hoping that they’ll find some penny in the straw.”25 Cleveland attorney Pat McCartan “attributes the stringing out of discovery to ‘insecurity on the part of the lawyers.’ It takes courage to terminate the process and go to trial.”26 Veteran attorney Harry Reasoner talks about finding a “golden mean in discovery, a line between being broad enough to ‘prevent evasion,’ and focused enough to prevent flooding the other side in a mass of paper.” 27
A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.
—John Henry Cardinal Newman28
Perfectionism can rear its head in other aspects of a lawyer’s life. In my own case, I won’t ever play in the bar golf tournament because I am just not a very good player. In fact, I am an abysmal player. If I can’t excel at golf, then I would rather not play golf. Think of all the fresh air, exercise, fellowship – not to mention beer – that I have missed over the years because of my reluctance to publicly expose my incompetence at golf. I’m sure that many of us share some of these common hang-ups relating to being self-conscious about our performance in one or more areas. So we tend to avoid them. Lawyers are not alone in having these feelings.
There was once a shy writer who completed a huge manuscript but was afraid to turn it in to a publisher. What if no one accepted it? She wasn’t sure she could take being turned down. Today there are thirty million copies of her book in print, around the world and in several languages. Her name was Margaret Mitchell; her book, Gone with the Wind.29
Perfectionist tendencies can show up in a different aspects of life. As a frequent author of legal articles, I have repeatedly had trouble getting well-informed lawyers to work with me on writing projects. It took me a while to get a handle on why this kept happening. Lack of time was the usual explanation. One putative co-author spent a couple of years going back and forth with me without actually producing his agreed part of an article. He finally begged off, confessing that he was afraid that the area was in flux and he was afraid that we would not be able to get the article right and he was afraid that we would be criticized. I think I counted the word “afraid” in his email about a dozen times. Silly, reckless me, I went ahead and finished the article and it was eventually published. Nobody has thrown a tomato at me so far.
Before becoming an active writer, it had simply never occurred to me that someone would view publishing an article as risk-taking. Aversion to risk-taking and fear of failure certainly seem to be kissing cousins to perfectionism. If you publish an article, or try a case, or perform at Rotary on your accordion, you are indeed taking a risk that somebody is going to find fault with your performance. Perhaps understanding that nothing can ever be absolutely perfect is somewhat of an asset to a person who is required to actually get things done. Or who wants to be an accordionist.
The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time.
– Edwin Bliss30
Some scholars have made a distinction between a “healthy perfectionism” and an “unhealthy perfectionism.” Of course, all of these categorizations are in some sense arbitrary and subjective, but we have to start somewhere in talking about these things. So let’s begin by looking at what have been identified as the attributes of a healthy perfectionism as opposed to an unhealthy perfectionism.
Practically everyone has a tendency to display some signs of perfectionism in one or more areas of their life. The degree to which those tendencies are displayed can be used to create a spectrum that makes it easier to define “healthy” versus “unhealthy” perfectionism.31 Below is a table that shows traits that may be generally attributed to “healthy” and “unhealthy” perfectionists.32
The table shows us some of the differences between “healthy perfectionism” and the pursuit of excellence versus “unhealthy perfectionism,” which can consist of a very negative self-centered focus. Traits of “unhealthy perfectionism” in the legal profession can be quite damaging to the ego and physical well-being of attorneys.
| Healthy Perfection |
Unhealthy Perfection |
|
Positive Self-Image |
Continuous Self-Criticism |
| Driven to Achieve Something Good |
Driven by Fear of Negative Consequences |
| Accomplishments are Satisfying |
Accomplishments Never Seem Satisfying |
| Learns from Mistakes |
Views Mistakes as Signs of Failure |
| Realistic about Strengths and Weaknesses |
Sets Unrealistically High Standards |
Performance coach Alison Clayton-Smith says that a lawyer who is having trouble dealing with perfectionist tendencies might benefit from coaching:
This is an area that lends itself to the use of coaching. Often individuals have very strong beliefs based on their life experiences which are leading them into unhelpful perfectionism. In a coaching situation we might:
• Challenge them to consider whether everything they do has to be 100% right. What things do not need to be perfect?
• Get them to define what being perfect looks like. How do they know it is perfect? Help them to understand what the implications of this are. What is the difference between “excellent” and “perfect”?
• Ask them to look at others around them and see if they can learn anything from others behaviors.
• Help them to focus on what the benefits would be of focusing on ‘ok’.
• Get them to review times when they have failed at something. How did they react? What were the consequences?
• Encourage them to identify some small risks they could take, perhaps outside of work first.33
Perhaps the best way to come to grips with perfectionism is simply to work in the real world for a few years and observe how far from perfect most of us really are.
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
– Henry van Dyke34
People who have strong perfectionist tendencies are known to tend to over commit themselves. One approach that helped me was to narrow my focus. One day long ago I decided that I didn’t have to be perfect at everything or the best at everything. It was certainly important to try my best at practicing law and winning cases because that is how I make my living. Likewise, it was certainly important to try my best at being a father. I certainly take great pride in my career as a lawyer and in my role as a parent. Being an outstanding tennis player or skier, however, was not a priority in my life, so why should I worry about my performance in those areas? I never did compete in a timed race when I was younger and skiing often. I decided that I wanted to enjoy skiing simply as a pleasurable physical activity and not make it into something competitive wherein I would feel required to try to prove my prowess by recording good racing times. I can’t think of anything I have enjoyed more than skiing and I am sure that taking the competitive pressure off myself, so to speak, contributed a great deal to that outcome.
Why not try picking a few key things to focus on seriously and accept rewards comparable to what you can afford to put into the other activities? I am a lifelong tennis player, albeit not a particularly good one. I decided years ago that I just could not expect to beat a dentist at tennis. Those guys only work four days a week and they can be out on the tennis court practicing almost every day. A lawyer just cannot afford to do that. So I learned to enjoy my tennis for what I was able to put into it and not sweat a loss to a dentist. You can’t expect to get out of something more than you are reasonably able to put into it. Basic rule of sports: Lawyers can’t beat dentists.
Another idea that has helped me came from a tennis book (I forget which). The suggestion was to “travel light.” In other words, don’t lay claim to being a great tennis player (lawyer, bridge player, salesman, lothario). Just go play. Then, not having attempted to stake out any particularly lofty territory for yourself, you won’t have to eat crow if you lose. If you do win, then great, you can go ahead and enjoy your accomplishment. I think that “travel light” is good advice for most any endeavor.
Yet another idea I got from a tennis book relates to focusing on what you can control. Now, like many of us, I could practice tennis all day every day for the rest of my life and I would never be as good as Roger Federer, John McEnroe, Big Bill Tilden, or the top women’s player at my club for that matter. Sad but true, I just simply do not have the physical talent for that. But, as the book pointed out, there is no inherent reason that I can’t play with just as much spunk as anyone else. Think Jimmy Connors here without the vulgarity and middle finger salutes to the umpire. And, so, I started to judge my play based primarily on whether I was able to play with guts and aggressiveness on any given day. Did I bravely go for my shots when I got my opportunities or did I meekly choke them into the net (as I usually had in the past) or wildly whack opportunity into the back fence? In other words, aggressively going for the appropriate shot is now more important to me than actually making the shot or winning the match for that matter. Now I still don’t overcome my internal fears every time I play, but most of the time now, I do. So, if I play the best I can play and fearlessly take my shots when opportunities are presented, then I have to feel that I have succeeded, no matter how the score ends up. I have successfully controlled everything that I am capable of controlling. And the interesting part is that since adopting my new Zen-like standard for judging my own play, I actually play freer and better and win more often. Who knew?
Perhaps one way to look at perfectionism is that it is healthy and admirable to seek perfection because you voluntarily choose to do that. Maybe it only becomes unhealthy and counterproductive when your perfectionistic tendencies become so compelling that you have no choice to make in the process. That is when perfection has become a compulsion rather than a work habit; a personal demon rather than a healthy goal.
I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.
– Leonardo da Vinci35
Another important point is not to confuse your identity as a professional person with your own self-worth. Competitive athletes are famous for this problem. Likewise, professional people can come to confuse their personal self-worth and identity with their standing as professionals. “Many very successful people, particularly those in the helping professions, rely on their profession to define who they are.”36 At a low point in my career a very wise friend said to me, “Glenn, you are more than just your profession.” This suggestion of a healthy perspective no doubt helped me to avoid a lengthy period of distress and frustration in my life. It’s natural to be proud of being a member of the legal profession. Just don’t let it define you. You don’t have to be an AV lawyer to be an AV person. Your profession is a part of your life, albeit an important part. It is not the sum total of your life. Nor should it be. I also believe that being a person is a part of being a lawyer. Particularly with jury trials and dealing with clients, a warm and appealing person usually fares better than an arid technocrat.
As we are all well aware, the practice of law is not a profession for everyone. We strive to get good clients, do good work for those clients, earn a nice living and not get indicted or go insane in the process. If a lawyer is going to maintain a long career in the practice of law, he or she must learn to come to grips with the process of accommodating the most stringent personal standards of excellence with the exigencies of the real world of daily law practice. In other words, we must learn to make effective compromises with perfection – in our work and in our lives. My own personal approach to the practice of law and life is to attempt to be highly selective about what I choose to be perfectionistic about. Attorney Susan Ford Robertson of Columbia calls this prioritizing. Figuring out in any given case exactly how to do that, of course, is an ongoing process.
Conclusion37
“Learning to practice law is learning to compromise with perfection.” How I have struggled over these many years to learn where and how to make those compromises. I’m not sure that I have been able to distill a general rule to follow that would serve on all occasions. I do know that it is not possible to be perfect. You can always work one more hour or one more day on a brief and make it better. There is no question about that. However, there is clearly a point of diminishing returns when the limited degree of improvement possible is simply not worth the time or money. The skill and experience of an effective lawyer, it seems to me, is largely in having a sense of how far to go with a given project and knowing when the product of our labors – be it a brief, a contract, or a set of interrogatories – is good enough to do the job but does not consume so much of our time and effort so as to bankrupt our client or take critical time away from other projects for other deserving clients. A benefit of experience is knowing which corners can be safely cut when circumstances demand conservation of time or resources. Experience also informs us as to when it is necessary and appropriate to go absolutely all out. A strong dose of reality and common sense certainly helps lubricate the process.
I have decided that the goal is not necessarily perfection. The goal is to produce a professional quality product that is effective in doing the job that needs to be done – and no more. Veteran Kansas City criminal defense lawyer Bruce Simon says that the standard is “the best you can do with the time and limitations you have available.” We are after professional excellence, not necessarily perfection. If it does turn out to be perfect, well then, there you go, good for you!
Footnotes
1 Glenn Bradford practices law in Kansas City.
2 http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/authors/sir_laurence_olivier_quotes.html.
3 Kullman, Lang, Inman and Bee, of New Orleans, Louisiana.
4 http:// www.quotationspage.com/quote/26979.html.
5 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Over the Teacups 312 (Hougton, Mifflin and Co. 1890).
6 Alison Clayton-Smith, Helping Lawyers Overcome the Perfectionist Trap, available at http://www.connectperformance.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/helping-lawyers-overcome-the-perfectionist-trap.pdf
7 Alison Bechdel, Dykes to Watch Out For calendar (1990).
8 Monica Ramirez Basco, Never Good Enough: How to Use Perfectionism to Your Advantage Without Letting it Ruin Your Life, xii (Simon & Schuster 1999).
9 Id.
10 See, generally, Martin M. Antony & Richard P. Swinson, When Perfect Isn’t Good Enough: Strategies for Coping with Perfectionism (New Harbinger Publications 1998); Ann W. Smith, Overcoming Perfectionism: The Key to a Balanced Recovery (Health Communication, Inc. 1990); Richard Winter, Perfecting Ourselves to Death (InterVarsity Press 2005).
11 300.3 Diagnostic Criteria for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (DSM IV)
A. Either obsessions or compulsions:
Obsessions as defined by (1), (2), (3), and (4):
1. recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress
2. the thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems
3. the person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action
4. the person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind (not imposed from without as in thought insertion)
Compulsions as defined by (1) and (2):
1. repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly
2. the behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or are clearly excessive
B. At some point during the course of the disorder, the person has recognized that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable. Note: This does not apply to children.
C. The obsessions or compulsions cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person’s normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual activities or relationships.
D. If another Axis I disorder is present, the content of the obsessions or compulsions is not restricted to it (e.g., preoccupation with food in the presence of an Eating Disorder; hair pulling in the presence of Trichotillomania; concern with appearance in the presence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder; preoccupation with drugs in the presence of a Substance Use Disorder; preoccupation with having a serious illness in the presence of Hypochondriasis; preoccupation with sexual urges or fantasies in the presence of a Paraphilia; or guilty ruminations in the presence of Major Depressive Disorder).
E. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.
12 301.4 Diagnostic Criteria for Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (DSM IV)
A pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
1. is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost
2. shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion (e.g., is unable to complete a project because his or her own overly strict standards are not met)
3. is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (not accounted for by obvious economic necessity)
4. is overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (not accounted for by cultural or religious identification)
5. is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value
6. is reluctant to delegate tasks or to work with others unless they submit to exactly his or her way of doing things
7. adopts a miserly spending style toward both self and others; money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes
8. shows rigidity and stubbornness
Found at http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=564 (November 7, 2008).
13 Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. 1966).
14 Monica Ramirez Basco, Never Good Enough: How to Use Perfectionism to Your Advantage Without Letting It Ruin Your Life 5 (Simon & Schuster 1999).
15 Antonin Scalia & Bryan Garner, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges 80 (Thomson West 2008).
16 Alison Clayton-Smith, Helping Lawyers Overcome the Perfectionist Trap, available at http://www.connectperformance.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/helping-lawyers-overcome-the-perfectionist-trap.pdf.
17 J. Clayton Lafferty & Lorraine Colleti-Lafferty, Perfection: A Sure Cure for Happiness (Human Synergistics 1997).
18 See, Glenn E. Bradford, Losing, 58 J. Mo. B. 208 (2002).
19 Juliana Barbassa, Fatal Perfection, available at http://www.dallasobserver.com/1999-03-25/news/fatal-perfection/full.
20 The vast majority of bar complaints in Missouri and elsewhere are caused by complaints by clients about lack of diligence and insufficient communication by the lawyer. For lawyers having difficulty, Jim Brady, director of the Missouri Lawyers Assistance Program, is available to provide guidance and help at 573-638-2262.
21 http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/authors/bill_lemley_quotes.html.
22 Miriam Adderholdt & Jan Goldberg, Perfectionism: What’s Bad About Being Too Good? 44 (Free Spirit Publshing, 1999).
23 A partner in a firm I worked for years ago laughingly made the comment that a young associate “is fighting a defensive, rear guard action at all times.”
24 See generally, Donald E. Vinson, America’s Top Trial Lawyers, Who They Are and Why They Win, 169-73 (Glasser LegalWorks 1994).
25 Donald E. Vinson, America’s Top Trial Lawyers, Who They Are & Why They Win 169 (Glasser LegalWorks 1994).
26 Id. at 170.
27 Id. at 170.
28 http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/authors/john_henry_cardinal_newman_quotes.html.
29 Miriam Adderholdt & Jan Goldberg, Perfectionism: What’s Bad About Being Too Good? 29 (Free Spirit Publishing, Inc. 1999).
30 http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/e/excellence.html.
31 Richard Winter, Perfecting Ourselves to Death: The Pursuit of Excellence and the Perils of Perfectionism 25 (Intervarsity Press 2005).
32 Id. at 26-28. The table is a listing of qualities cited that are common among these two groups.
33 See generally, Alison Clayton-Smith, Helping Lawyers Overcome the Perfectionist Trap, May 2007, available at http://www.connectperformance.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/helping-lawyers-overcome-the-perfectionist-trap.pdf.
34 http://www.quotegarden.com/perfection.html.
35 http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Leonardo-Da-Vinci/1/index.html.
36 Ann W. Smith, M.S., Overcoming Perfectionism: The Key to a Balanced Recovery 6 (Health Communication, Inc. 1990).
37 Of course, one could write a book about this topic, or constellation of topics. If you want more help in dealing with these issues, I have cited a number of excellent books on the subject which you can consult. One of the best is by Richard Winter, entitled, Perfecting Ourselves to Death.