He’s not a real person –– well, he is a real person playing a character –– but more and more my hero is this dude from a LAW & ORDER episode called Black Tie.
Basically, he’s playing the best defense lawyer in NYC who is hired by a super-rich women when she’s accused of putting her diabetic husband into a coma. [A gender reversal of the Claus von Bülow trial.]
What has lingered with me for years and years, though, is that throughout the trial this superstar lawyer is completely distracted, barely bothering to even object.
The D.A. figures out that he’s really focused on the appeal, and sure enough, the instant the Guilty Verdict is pronounced, he motions for the appeal. The Judge says something like “I look forward to reading your appeal when it’s written,” and the superstar law simply hands over the 100 page document.
Essentially, he’d spent the entire trial focused on the real battle –– the appeal –- and used the time to prepare perfectly so that his socialite client wouldn’t have to spend a single moment in jail.
What I love about this is that a) he’s completely not distracted by all the courtroom mishegas going on around him, b) he’s entirely concentrating only on the truly important goal, and c) this involves writing the document that produces the magic result of Freedom. [Basically, he’s entirely EYES ON THE PRIZE.]
It’s just so easy to get involved in all sort of endless battles –– major and minor –– and lose focus on your desired end result.
I really want to be one step ahead of the game … or at least focused on the right game.
And –– perhaps most importantly –– the superstar lawyer wins the appeal, and his client is freed, and she immediately heads for France where she buys herself a chateau.
Now do you see why he’s my writing/stay focused hero?
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