Be an Embracing Lawyer
'To be a lawyer is to stand in the current of change. Those who fear it often find themselves overwhelmed, while those who accept it adapt and thrive.'
Jim Vickaryous: "Keep some time open each day for the unexpected call, the unplanned emergency, or the client who needs more attention than anticipated. Building room for uncertainty into your schedule is not wasted time. It is a recognition of reality."
One morning I walked into court prepared for what I thought would be a routine hearing. I had prepared my argument and anticipated the arguments opposing counsel might raise. Within the first five minutes, everything changed. The judge announced that she was inclined to take the case in a direction none of us had expected. Suddenly the issues I had thought were central no longer mattered. I had a choice. I could resist, scramble, and hope to regain control. Or I could embrace the uncertainty, adjust in real time, and move forward with calm resolve. That day reminded me of a truth every lawyer eventually learns: uncertainty is not an exception in law. It is the rule.
Lawyers should embrace uncertainty. Uncertainty is woven into the very fabric of the profession. No case proceeds exactly as predicted. Witnesses surprise us. Judges alter schedules. Clients change their minds. New evidence appears at the last moment. In transactional matters, buyers and sellers may want to change the contract to something quite different than originally contemplated. The landscape can shift quickly, and sometimes dramatically. To live in constant fear of that shift is exhausting. To accept uncertainty as a natural part of practice is liberating.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet gives us lawyers some great advice: “Readiness is all.” We must not only be ready for unexpected change, we must also ready ourselves to accept the change. Uncertainty is a constant in life and in law. It will always be there. Pretending that perfect control is possible is a recipe for disappointment. The better approach is to recognize that unpredictability is inevitable and then to prepare in a way that allows flexibility. A lawyer can either fight against the unknown and grow anxious, or embrace it and use it productively. Being ready to embrace the change makes all the difference.
Planning is an essential part of embracing uncertainty. Lawyers must be ready for multiple possibilities. Hope for the best outcome, but prepare for the worst. If you carry several plans into a deposition, hearing, or negotiation, you are never at the mercy of a single approach. When the situation shifts, you already have a path forward. The lawyer who is prepared for change looks not only competent but superb. Clients notice. Judges notice. Opposing counsel notice. What appears to others as quick thinking is often simply preparation for uncertainty.
This mindset also makes the practice less stressful. If you already expect that your day will not unfold exactly as scheduled, the interruptions and surprises become less frustrating. They are part of the rhythm of the work. Keep some time open each day for the unexpected call, the unplanned emergency, or the client who needs more attention than anticipated. Building room for uncertainty into your schedule is not wasted time. It is a recognition of reality.
Too often, we think of uncertainty only as negative. The instinct is to view it as chaos to be avoided. The secret of change is to focus energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. This idea captures an important truth about uncertainty in the law. Yet uncertainty can be serendipitous if we allow it. Some of the best developments in a case come from unexpected turns. A witness says something that opens a new angle. A settlement offer arrives that nobody anticipated. A door closes but another opens, and the new path proves better than the one originally envisioned. By embracing uncertainty, lawyers place themselves in a position to see opportunity where others see only disorder.
Embracing change is a nice buzzword, but it is very easy to backslide into a past that no longer exists. Honest Abe Lincoln gives some cheeky advice about embracing change: “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.” Change itself is constant, whether we embrace it or not. The practice of law will never be static. Rules evolve. Technology transforms procedures. Social conditions shift the questions clients bring. To be a lawyer is to stand in the current of change. Those who fear it often find themselves overwhelmed, while those who accept it adapt and thrive. Keep walking forward, even if, like me, you are a slow walker.
Even outside the courtroom, this principle matters. A lawyer advising clients on business decisions must help them navigate risks that cannot be eliminated. The market will shift. Competitors will innovate. Regulations will change. The lawyer who embraces uncertainty frames advice in terms of possibilities and strategies rather than false promises of certainty. That kind of honesty builds lasting trust.
Embracing uncertainty also aligns with the professional duty lawyers carry. Clients come to us not for guarantees, but for guidance through uncertainty. Every client who walks into a lawyer’s office is, in some sense, uncertain. They do not know what will happen to their case, their contract, or their freedom. They turn to lawyers because we are supposed to know how to move forward even when outcomes are unclear. If we cannot embrace uncertainty ourselves, how can we expect to lead clients through it?
This way of thinking does not mean abandoning order or precision. It means balancing preparation with flexibility. It means recognizing that clarity and adaptability are not opposites but partners. A lawyer can prepare meticulously while also leaving room for the unexpected. In fact, true preparation includes anticipating what cannot be anticipated.
As we age into the practice of law, it's helpful to remember Ben Franklin’s sage advice: “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” It’s 250-year-old advice but could not be truer today than at any point in our nation’s history. The longer I practice, the more I see that embracing uncertainty is not a weakness but a strength. It is not resignation but resilience. When lawyers acknowledge that uncertainty is part of every case, they are free to approach each situation with steady confidence rather than brittle rigidity. They are better advocates for their clients, better officers of the court, and healthier professionals in the long run.
Ancient philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote that everything arises through change. As this is so, let us embrace change and use it for our clients’ benefit. Lawyers who embrace uncertainty get the privilege of creating something entirely new. Being a part of helping craft the new world we practice and live in is not something just to embrace, but to be grateful for. Let’s be the agents of creating something worthy. Let’s all resolve to be embracing lawyers.
Jim Vickaryous is the managing partner of the Vickaryous Law Firm in Lake Mary and represents the 18th Circuit on The Florida Bar Board of Governors.
