Leading Through Adversity: Michael Mogill + Gomez Trial Attorneys
3 minutes to read
In order to make an impact, you must first REACT: Figure out the needs of those around you and where you can best be of service, and make something happen.
John Gomez of Gomez Trial Attorneys recently sat down with Crisp Founder & CEO Michael Mogill to discuss what his firm has done to pivot and adapt to the current circumstances — and how he deals with the criticism of those who have failed to take action for their own organization.
Check out the full conversation here.
0:39 – Pause and reflect. “On Monday, we had to have everyone remote. We knew all our trials were going to be kicked and courts closed. I took that weekend with my team to pause and reflect. And I think oftentimes we undervalue the notion of pausing and reflecting. There’s a quote by Albert Einstein that says, ‘If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution.’ I took that weekend to define the problem.”
2:19 – Keep the spirit alive. “The first thing we did was we started a contest to nominate where our next retreat was going to be once this was over, so they can see on the back end that we have confidence and we are going to go on a retreat once this is over. We’ve kept that spirit going with the team, keeping them motivated and encouraged.”
3:20 – Weekly webinars. “We did a webinar series for our clients to answer their questions and be available for them. Within the legal community, we thought, ‘What was the problem there?’ We depended a lot on referral lawyers. We figured your average car accident lawyer would come out of this pretty beat up and even initially have a lot of anxiety and fear just like our clients and our team members would. So we started doing weekly webinars for them. I called it ‘COVID-19 & Getting Through It,’ and sort of reassuring them.”
10:54 – Prior to being a lawyer. “Before law school, I was a social worker. I’ve been very interested in the questions of poverty and socioeconomic issues for a long time. I can see the other side of this too. If you involuntarily place millions of people out of work, then you are going to be creating enormous social repercussions that are going to last generations.”
12:48 – Voice opinions. “The first guiding principle of our firm is that we always do the right thing. It’s our province or my province to define what’s right in my world or our world. It’s important to have positions on things that matter to me. I would rather be respected than liked or agreed with. If people respect me and the place I’m coming from, and the way I voice my opinions is respectful, then I think that that engenders some respect and admiration in the end.”
14:06 – It is not too late. “There’s this old Chinese proverb that says, ‘The best time to plant a tree was a hundred years ago. The second best time is now.’ It’s not too late. There’s still time and opportunity to be a leader, to pause and reflect, and to address whatever issues you believe this current situation poses to you and your team.”
If you’re viewing this challenging situation the same way John and Michael are, text Michael directly at 404–531–7691 to tell him your thoughts.
