I think the true quality of a law firm or accounting firm can be judged by how it responds to the death of one of its people.

There was a lot of coverage recently regarding the death of a Chicago lawyer in an international firm; suicide was a possibility.

He had been a prominent lawyer and chair of an important practice group. I looked him up on the law firm’s website — and he was already gone. He’d disappeared. His biography had been removed.

The only lingering traces were the few tiny mentions where he’d been quoted in press releases.

He had become an Orwellian “Unperson.”

Shame on them.  He deserved better.

This is an update to an article from a few years ago where we discussed the tragic 2008 death of one of the leaders of the Louisville, KY legal community, Marc Yussman.  Marc was charming, fun, dynamic, generous — a brilliant lawyer, a savvy businessman, and most importantly, an absolutely great guy. 

Marc died suddenly at just 50 years old, sending his firm reeling. They needed to respond quickly and appropriately. For starters, here’s the obituary posted to the website and ran in the local papers. It tried to capture his personality and spirit; portray the story of the man, not the lawyer.

Here’s what we recommend to our clients when one of their people dies:

Run a prominent obituary announcement in the local legal paper running once or twice in weekly or monthly local and industry publications, and five times in the dailies.  It should include a warm, smiling, informal photograph (not the firm’s stiff headshot).  The text should help us see his human side, not just the technical details of his practice. It should look professionally designed.

Other ideas include:

• Name a conference room after her.

• Put a framed photo of her on a wall (but NOT in the kitchen).

• Post a sensitive personal obituary on the firm’s home page that focuses on the person, not the lawyer.

  • Replace their website biography with their personal story (not simply editing it to use past-tense verbs…)

• Place an obituary with a smiling photo in the professional announcement section of a local legal paper.

• Set up a trust for a local charity that supports his/her interests and, if possible, the firm’s brand and core values. 
  

• Consider offering in-house grief counseling.

• Etc.

This sad event can be a culture-building opportunity — to show your personnel that they matter, that you’re a family. Of course, the above ideas apply equally following the loss of a member of your valued professional staff as well.

You only have one chance to do this right. Your personnel, clients, legal community, and the family will notice and remember how you handled this.  If the death is unexpected, it can be hard to think through these issues with a clear head. In that case, get outside help — these things matter.