J. Alistair McKenzie Esq.

I have been blessed as an attorney to be able to practice and focus on the areas of law which I truly believe in.  This gives me a distinct advantage as a litigator because my passion for standing up for what I believe in and tying that into each of my clients' cases means that as an advocate I am willing to go the extra mile that other attorneys might not go.

I am also a firm believer in the art of practicing law.  I saw a percussionist give a speech a while back about the difference between listening and really listening.  She was talking about being a musician and described how a person who is technically trained can play a piece of sheet music back perfectly.  She played a piece of music and it was technically sound, but it lacked expression.  Then she went back and played the same piece of music as she would play it, as a musician not a technician, and the piece of music came alive.  She talked about the two ways of doing something as listening and really listening.  In other words, engaging in the activity completely.  Here is her talk:

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I say this, because I believe there is a difference between an attorney who is technically proficient at practicing law and an attorney who engages in the art of practicing law.  Sure, the technically proficient attorney can file all the right papers, will ask appropriate questions, and will do just fine handling a case.  But, because they are just mere technicians of law, they lack a sort of creativity or spark.  Where on the other hand, an attorney who engages in the art of practicing law will have all of the technical abilities, but has an added edge, a passion to examine the law and rules from different angles, to look at the law and a client's case from different perspectives, and to create and execute strategies for clients that can achieve better results.  These kinds of attorneys have the drive to keep asking questions and to keep improving their practice by consistent and creative applications of the law.  The desire to go the extra mile for a client and to find a new road to success where other attorneys might just be happy to stick to the old road.

When choosing among the many attorneys out there, I believe the most important quality you should look for is whether the attorney just merely practices law or whether the attorney engages in the art of practicing law.