But don’t think like just any lawyer; think like your boss.

In my ongoing, ever-evolving, semi-regular series on building personal capital, I’m considering of one of the most effective ways to build lawyer trust: by getting into your lawyer’s head and learning to think like he does.

No, you don’t have to change your personality, religion, or political affiliation. This is only for work!

Unfortunately, Lawyer-Think for Dummies has yet to be written, and it wouldn’t do much good if it had; they may all dress the same, but lawyers are as distinct from one another as everyone else. For instance, one of my lawyers is directionally impaired (easy for me to relate, since I’m the same) and needs a map even when his destination is 3 miles from the office, while another seems to think I’m calling him stupid if I give him maps for out of town trips. One puts convenience and travel points above all when picking a hotel, while the other makes complicated decisions weighing convenience, points, cost, and transportation options against each other. Needless to say, the former is much easier to second-guess than the latter. But I’m getting better all the time.

Some of the ways thinking like my lawyers benefits me:

• I draft letters and motions that they usually sign with little or no revision.
• I can confidently handle just about any situation that arises in their absence.
• I know which callers get precedence, and I know how to answer many types of sensitive questions.
• I know what to send with them when they travel or go to court — whether or not they know what they should take. This saves me the stress of those frantic, last minute calls from out of town. Usually.
• I recognize “moods” and don’t take crabbiness personally. (Not that my lawyers are ever crabby. Who would be, with a secretary like me?)

Essentially, thinking like your lawyer is a two-phase process:

1. Begin by simply thinking as if you were in his place. Anyone with a few years of legal experience can do this. If it were you attending that out-of-town deposition, what would it take to make you feel secure that you have all the information and documents you need? If it were you signing that motion, how would you want it drafted? If that irate judge called while you were playing golf, what would you want your secretary to say to her?

2. Next, develop the skill of thinking as if you actually are your lawyer. This requires an understanding of your lawyer’s thought process: Does he take the entire file when one sub-folder is all he really needs, or does he tend to walk out with nothing and then call you, frantic because he doesn’t have something vital? Is he a succinct writer of the Bryan Garner persuasion, or is he more of an attached-hereto-and-incorporated-herein-by-reference type? If you’re writing something on your lawyer’s behalf, it should be in his style rather than yours.

No. 2 isn’t easy, and it won’t happen quickly. Lawyers don’t think like regular people, so, for the rest of us, there is a learning curve. You can expect it to take at least one year, possibly two, before you’ve achieved the full Vulcan Mind-Meld with your boss. But the rewards of effectively anticipating his needs and preferences can be huge — among them, having your him think you’re brilliant. How could you be otherwise if you think exactly as he does?