Apex Culture Plan
Apex takes pride in promoting a healthy culture for our clients and our team. We focus on continuously fostering personal and professional development through a carefully curated list of principles.
Assume positive intent
Work from the assumption that people are good, fair, and honest. If an interaction seems negative, you may be misunderstanding, or they may be having a temporary bad moment. Set aside your judgements and preconceived notions and give the benefit of the doubt. Assume that if you speak up about an interaction, the person will be receptive to learning.
Practice from written process
Most everything can be achieved with process. Start with the existing written processes, always. If there isn’t one, create one. Share processes with the team. Turn processes into habits.
Relentlessly improve yourself and your process
The only constant is change. Do not accept the status quo unless, with thoughtfulness, the status quo is the best path. Lessons abound. Practice after action reviews, ask questions, read books, keep getting better.
Actively listen without pretense
Remember that everyone is human, and every human deserves respect. Listen regardless of a person’s experience or station. When listening, actively listen to what is being said. Don’t prepare your reaction while listening. Listen to understand.
Remove ego
Outside of specific and designated self-care, it’s not about you. The client, the firm, the project, the world – OTHERS – come first. Your personal agenda, or worrying about who gets credit, cannot get in the way. Check your ego at the door.
Make people better
With empathy, inspire your clients, partners, and teammates to do their best. Sometimes this means get out of the way, sometimes this is a direct reminder. Often, making people better is achieved by you merely showing up and showing you care.
Be open to feedback
We can’t get better without feedback. Be open to constructive criticism by listening and letting the feedback land before ANY reaction.
Always do your best
You can always do your best. Given the time, given your expertise, your knowledge of the situation, or any other constraint, do your best. At the post-mortem, be able to say: “I did my best.”
Find a way
Throw your full weight into problem solving. Make phones ring, ask questions, research, send emails, ask for help, and otherwise find a way to solve the problem. At the post-mortem, be able to say: “I did everything I could.”
Smooth out the load with delegation
We work collaboratively on every project. Ask: “am I the right person for this task?” Fight the urge to “just do it” from unnecessary time pressure because often there is a better collaborative fit. Delegate the task to the right person in the right way.
Practice self-care
Take time off. Take a quick walk or host a conference room happy hour. When you take time off, be away. Our clients and teammates deserve the best. We cannot be at our best without appropriate rest.
Take pride in the details
Take pride in the details. Not everything is within your control, but spelling the client’s name correctly, lining up formatting, using correct grammar, the details, are within your control. Double check and triple check to get those right.
Have fun
While doing serious work, there is no need to take yourself seriously. Give yourself permission to laugh when something is funny. Consider: what would this look like if it were a game, or “play” instead of “work?”
Celebrate wins
When a teammate or a client has a win, celebrate! Life’s too short not to acknowledge and appreciate the victories.
Use dates to follow-through.
From a private reminder to a client or opposing counsel deadline, set dates and timelines for action. Then follow-through until the final product is fully complete. And even after that, follow-up on the deliverables. Do not be afraid to revise or change deadlines if the legal work demands it.
Communicate clearly
Always ask: “Who is my audience?” The answer will help you write and speak so that the information will land. Be concise. Don’t obfuscate. Jargon is rarely necessary, and for client interactions often needlessly confusing. Set precise goals, dates, and expectations.
Investigate and document facts
Do not assume a “fact.” Do the work necessary to better understand, better describe, or better relate to the situation. “Reality” is mercurial. Our work demands evidence to support the reality that best suits our clients’ needs. Build that evidence and continually re-visit facts for understanding to make informed decisions.
Share information and be a teacher
We are open and collaborative. Outside of professional responsibilities, make sure that you share information with the team and the public. When you share, is there a teachable moment as well?
Do what you say you are going to do
Do what you say you are going to do. Meet your goals and achieve the expectations you set. Plans change, but then you must explain the what and the why for the change. Update expectations, deadlines, strategy, but then again, do what you say you are going to do.
Set the “Apex” tone
Our professional culture is inclusive, humble, friendly, and effective. Every interaction, from clients to opposing counsel, from a phone call to an email, generates a feeling. Infuse your interactions with the Apex tone.
All service is personal
They won’t remember what you say, might remember what you do, and will always remember how you made them feel. Make clients feel like you advocated, fought like hell, understood, put in the work to get it right, make them feel like their matter was personal to you like it is for them.