15 July 2017 2 min read

I was given a cactus yesterday. Now this is wonderful for a number of reasons. 1. Cacti remarkably tend to survive my very average horticultural abilities. 2. Cacti are a particularly funky fauna and very on trend. 3. My spiky companion gave me inspiration for this blog post.

Law firms are very much like cacti. Let me explain.

We all know that Aloe vera are grand and if you have a mother like mine (who channels Gaia herself) appreciate that Aloe vera is the go to remedy for any cut or scrape. Now let’s take your business. When customers aren’t paying you, suppliers aren’t delivering, your employees have gone AWOL or someone has copied your business name, you may need to engage with a lawyer. The problem is, you may think lawyers can be….well…pr**ks.

– You see where the cactus analogy comes in.

You know that deep down lawyers probably have the solutions for you, the good advice and the documents to help soothe your business woes. Unfortunately, there seem to be an awful lot of thorny obstacles you must surpass to reach this inner goodness. 

Scrounging around the cactus garden to find the right cactus in the first instance, can earn you a few initial scratches. You’re keen to numb the pain quickly and are relieved when you think you’ve found the right specimen. Then you’re hit with the steep fees. Ouch! Then there’s the legal jargon that doesn’t always make sense. Ouch! Then more stinging fees for the phone call to explain the legal jargon. Ouch again! 

Engaging with some lawyers can therefore not always be as soothing an experience as a business owner might hope for and is no doubt why lawyers have gained their merciless reputation. 

What’s important to remember is that not all cacti are the same. Indeed, some can even be quite soft and fluffy or have meticulously clipped down their spines to make the goodness as accessible as possible. Engaging with lawyers does not therefore have to share the same bittersweet qualities of swallowing a prickly pear (I witnessed my younger sister accidentally do this. Whilst entertaining, I wouldn’t recommend to others).

It’s also worth remembering how grateful you were the last time you acquired a nasty cut and remembered that you had a handy tube of Aloe in the medicine cupboard, ready for when you needed it…just saying.

I myself am very fond of both my cacti. The one sat on my desk and my Hy-biscus…I mean Hybrid. 

By Freya Claydon.

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Alan Reid

Alan brings a wealth of director level, leadership and management experience to Hybrid.

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