 |
| Michael Cochrane |
As many readers know, through COVID, my friend Marcel provided weekly doses of humour in Law360 Canada to help us make our way through those darkest days. I am, therefore, delighted to provide you with a review of his new book.
Part memoir, part public legal education, part legal history and frankly at times part Monty Python-esque, it is a map of Strigberger’s life in law laced with his humourous insights and observations. Now retired after 40-plus years in the trenches as a criminal/civil lawyer in Toronto, writing this 32-chapter tour of the legal universe must have been a welcome balm for him — if not downright therapy.
With chapters like, “Fear of Lawyers: You’re a Lawyer. Lawyers Scare Me,” “Time: Yours, Mine and Hours — Billable of Course,” “The Selfies: Do It Yourself (DIY) Lawyer” and “The Corporation — Neither a Soul to Be Damned Nor an Ass to Kick,” the reader gets a flavour for the kind of wisdom he has garnered over the years and now willingly shares — always with a wink.
Strigberger, a self-confessed old-school baby boomer, devotes a chapter to a familiar aliment of our generation — dealing with technology and its seemingly endless evolution. In Chapter 25, “Boomer Technophobia — Yikes!,” he recalls his days as the youngest lawyer in a space-sharing arrangement where the mainstay of the office was a simple typewriter and dabbing liquid whiteout on typos was the equivalent of today’s delete function. But then, one day, an IBM Selectric typewriter — technology that “rivalled the invention of the Gutenberg press” — arrived. The office gathered around as the sales rep demonstrated this magical device. While typing a sample, he deliberately misspelled a word (what?!) but then, before anyone could cry out, he simply deleted the word and retyped it to the ohs and ahhs of those witnessing a revolution. Little did they know that soon they would deal with Y2K, e-filing, e-discovery, iPads and — God forbid — Zoom meetings.
There are the more serious issues too, considered with tongue firmly in his cheek. In Chapter 13, “Successful Law Practice: The Magic Bullet,” Strigberger touches upon a very important part of private practice, something I do not recall being taught in law school — how to persuade successfully. With stories and examples from his own career, he concludes with an observation from Aristotle: “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would rather have talked.” More often than not, less is more.
As I mentioned, there is, at times, a Monty Python-esque quality to Strigberger’s writing and there’s no better example than Chapter 19, “See You in Court — Here We Are.” After tracing several of his own experiences in courtrooms over the years, Strigberger takes flight with the story of a man who found a fly in his soup. In short order, we are joined by Lord Mundane; a Professor Dieter von Himmel, of Stuttgart University, a renowned authority on the psychiatric consequences of finding a fly in one’s soup; Winston Churchill (yeah, that one); Dr. Michael LaBarge, chairman of soupology at the University of Western Maritimes; and one Waldo J. — to name just a few. I had to stop a few times and ask myself if I had actually seen John Cleese perform this skit! Nope, it’s all from the humorous imagination of Marcel Strigberger.
Now, having said all that, who will appreciate this labour of love? Lawyers of course — especially those of a certain vintage — and certainly law students. But I think non-lawyers too would enjoy this tour of Strigberger’s career and his experiences in the justice system for over 40 years, years that witnessed so much change.
I read recently that, as of 2022, boomers now make up just 26 per cent of the legal profession. Millennials and gen X dominate our field with 39.6 per cent and 34.1 per cent, respectively. So, whether we like it or not, the boomer generation is passing the baton, and we are handing it to young people who reportedly suffer from a great deal of anxiety. One treatment for that anxiety might include taking a dose of Strigberger.
As challenging and as stressful as our work is, we need to pause from time to time and not take ourselves so seriously. When we look back, as Strigberger has done, I hope we’ll find at least half as much pleasure as he clearly has.
Michael Cochrane is a Toronto lawyer with Brauti, Thorning LLP and an author (www.michaelcochrane.ca) His novel, Night Soil, about nasty divorce lawyer Andrew Bierce Q.C., was published in 2022 and its sequel, Night Soil II: Inferno, will be published in October 2024.
The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.
Interested in writing for us? To learn more about how you can add your voice to Law360 Canada, contact Analysis Editor Peter Carter at peter.carter@lexisnexis.ca or call 647-776-6740.