{"id":122854,"date":"2025-06-12T17:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T01:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/12\/the-best-way-to-handle-the-jerks-working-at-your-law-firm\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T17:02:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T01:02:43","slug":"the-best-way-to-handle-the-jerks-working-at-your-law-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/12\/the-best-way-to-handle-the-jerks-working-at-your-law-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Way To Handle The Jerks Working At Your Law Firm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawyers tend to get a reputation for being jerks, both within and outside of the legal industry. Try as they might, they\u2019ve been unable to shake the designation \u2014 and maybe that\u2019s because some lawyers really are<\/em> jerks.<\/p>\n

BTI Consulting Group<\/a> recently surveyed more than 1,000 lawyers to get some insight as to whether law firms are doing anything about those who could be characterized as jerks and their associated bad behavior. For some, the results may be shocking; for others, it\u2019s really no surprise at all. Take a look:<\/p>\n

\n

My firm absolutely tolerates jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a022.14%<\/p>\n

Kind of tolerates jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 31.14%<\/p>\n

Occasionally tolerates jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 19.70%<\/p>\n

No tolerance for jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 27.05%<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nearly 73% of lawyers say jerks are tolerated in some form or fashion at their firms. What can be done about this? BTI has some pretty sound advice on how firms can work to eliminate this behavior: <\/p>\n

\n

Coach and Advise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Provide an independent behavioral coach. Some jerks don\u2019t know they are jerks \u2013 and no one wants to tell them. A large number of jerks are coachable \u2013 and can create the positive energy every firm needs.<\/p>\n

Add it to Annual Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n

Include key behaviors for both firm and self-evaluation. Add a quantitative component so you can easily track it.<\/p>\n

Train Leaders to Intervene \u2013 Not Avoid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teach leaders how to spot stealth jerks and have hard conversations. Most bad behavior lingers because leaders lack the skill \u2013 or courage \u2013 to call it out early.<\/p>\n

Tie Culture to Compensation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Create a path to build cultural leadership as a factor in comp decisions and advancement. If someone builds a high-performing, jerk-free team \u2013 reward them like they just landed an amazing client.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

BTI has the final word on how to handle lawyers who act like jerks within law firms: \u201cEvery firm has jerks. The best firms don\u2019t let them\u00a0stay jerks<\/em>. Or they don\u2019t let them\u00a0stay<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerks Welcome. Partners Weigh in on Firms Who Tolerate Jerks<\/a> [Mad Clientist \/ BTI Consulting Group]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post The Best Way To Handle The Jerks Working At Your Law Firm<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Image via Getty)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawyers tend to get a reputation for being jerks, both within and outside of the legal industry. Try as they might, they\u2019ve been unable to shake the designation \u2014 and maybe that\u2019s because some lawyers really are<\/em> jerks.<\/p>\n

BTI Consulting Group<\/a> recently surveyed more than 1,000 lawyers to get some insight as to whether law firms are doing anything about those who could be characterized as jerks and their associated bad behavior. For some, the results may be shocking; for others, it\u2019s really no surprise at all. Take a look:<\/p>\n

\n

My firm absolutely tolerates jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a022.14%<\/p>\n

Kind of tolerates jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 31.14%<\/p>\n

Occasionally tolerates jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 19.70%<\/p>\n

No tolerance for jerks and bad behavior:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 27.05%<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nearly 73% of lawyers say jerks are tolerated in some form or fashion at their firms. What can be done about this? BTI has some pretty sound advice on how firms can work to eliminate this behavior: <\/p>\n

\n

Coach and Advise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Provide an independent behavioral coach. Some jerks don\u2019t know they are jerks \u2013 and no one wants to tell them. A large number of jerks are coachable \u2013 and can create the positive energy every firm needs.<\/p>\n

Add it to Annual Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n

Include key behaviors for both firm and self-evaluation. Add a quantitative component so you can easily track it.<\/p>\n

Train Leaders to Intervene \u2013 Not Avoid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teach leaders how to spot stealth jerks and have hard conversations. Most bad behavior lingers because leaders lack the skill \u2013 or courage \u2013 to call it out early.<\/p>\n

Tie Culture to Compensation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Create a path to build cultural leadership as a factor in comp decisions and advancement. If someone builds a high-performing, jerk-free team \u2013 reward them like they just landed an amazing client.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

BTI has the final word on how to handle lawyers who act like jerks within law firms: \u201cEvery firm has jerks. The best firms don\u2019t let them\u00a0stay jerks<\/em>. Or they don\u2019t let them\u00a0stay<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerks Welcome. Partners Weigh in on Firms Who Tolerate Jerks<\/a> [Mad Clientist \/ BTI Consulting Group]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawyers tend to get a reputation for being jerks, both within and outside of the legal industry. Try as they might, they\u2019ve been unable to shake the designation \u2014 and maybe that\u2019s because some lawyers really are jerks. BTI Consulting Group recently surveyed more than 1,000 lawyers to get some insight as to whether law […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":122845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Staci-Zaretsky-NjaZgB.jpeg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}