By SIMON HENDERY
Some suggestions if you're a restless lawyer, looking for a change of scene:
Idea 1: Write a pithy little book listing 101 self-help ideas for fellow lawyers. That is what Simon Tupman did.
Idea 2: Include everything from the predictable ("Offer convenient/free parking nearby your office") to the offbeat ("Have
a midday massage").
Idea 3: Give your book a catchy title. Tupman called his Why Lawyers Should Eat Bananas.
"The essential qualities of a banana should be synonymous with those of a lawyer: they are good for you and they are great value for money," he writes.
Idea 4: It does not matter how routine the advice is. "Common sense isn't as common as it should be," Tupman said on a visit to Auckland this week.
"We need to be reminded of the things we already know."
The book aims to improve lawyers' image by encouraging them to be better communicators.
"Law school educates lawyers to deal with complex matters and as a result they often find it hard to explain matters in a simple way."
Client dissatisfaction is most likely to emerge when it comes to paying the bill, so Tupman advises lawyers to guarantee service standards, offer clients Eftpos and credit card payment facilities, and consider accepting payment based on performance.
English-born Tupman worked as marketing manager for Auckland law firm Hesketh Henry in the 90s and now lives in Australia.
He self-published 3000 copies of Bananas late last year, and is about to order a second printing.
Hence Idea 5 (or 48 as it appears in Bananas): "If you want to skyrocket your credibility, write and publish a book ... "
Is he worried this advice will lead to a flood of titles competing with his own?
Certainly not. "Everybody has a book in them."
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Simon Tupman
