You are not a team player. You are disruptive. People experience you as toxic, and your presence is starting to hurt the firm.
Your colleagues describe you as one of the strongest performers in the office. They also describe you as a brilliant jerk.
You are highly capable, productive, and driven. Yet in the same breath, they say you are difficult to work with. Arrogant. A prima donna. Someone they wish they did not have to report to.
They resent the way you handle clients. You always need the last word. You raise your voice. You take your frustrations out on the staff. You create tension instead of solutions.
Over time, that attitude spreads. It also shapes others’ experiences of your firm and damages your reputation not only internally, but externally.
Do the Ends Justify the Means?
Machiavelli once wrote:
“Thus when fortune turns against them, you will be prepared to resist it. A man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done moves toward self-destruction rather than self-preservation.”
Building a successful legal career is demanding. It requires resilience, discipline, and the ability to perform under constant pressure. The work is competitive, adversarial, and often unforgiving.
You fight hard. You win cases. You deliver results. You earn a reputation as a strong advocate.
But in today’s legal industry, performance alone is no longer enough.
Reputation has become a form of professional currency. Strong results may open doors, but consistent professionalism determines whether those doors remain open.
Outcomes and conduct are closely connected. Every decision, every interaction, and every response leaves an impression. Over time, those impressions shape how others see you-and how long your success lasts.
The Collateral Damage of a Poor Reputation
When one high performer consistently creates conflict, the consequences reach far beyond individual relationships.
Revolving Door
From legal assistants to associates to senior partners, talented people begin to leave. They do not leave the firm first. They leave the environment.
High performers will not stay where they feel disrespected, undervalued, or emotionally drained.
Lost Business
Firms with reputational issues struggle to attract referrals. Clients talk. Other attorneys talk. Recruiters talk.
Today, word travels instantly through professional networks, private forums, LinkedIn, and informal industry channels.
A damaged reputation travels faster than any marketing campaign.
Recruiting Challenges
Top talent researches firms before applying. They read reviews. They ask peers. They listen to recruiters.
No one wants to join a workplace known for hostility, burnout, or unchecked egos.
Industry Perception
How you behave in meetings, courtrooms, conferences, and social settings defines your professional brand.
Professionalism is no longer optional. It is expected at every level.
Play nice is not about being soft. It is about being strategic.
Strength and Professionalism Go Together
“I play nice, it’s not always easy, but that’s how I’ve forged deep lasting connections with law firms and attorneys over the years. Niceness, however, does not need to mean weakness. You’ve got to be strong to be nice. I’m also known for being tough,” says Shari Davidson, President, On Balance Search Consultants.
In modern legal practice, strength and respect are not opposites. The most effective leaders understand that professionalism enhances authority rather than diminishing it.
Strong leaders set clear expectations, communicate directly, and hold people accountable. They remain composed under pressure and treat colleagues with consistency and fairness.
Rather than relying on intimidation, they build credibility through reliability, competence, and respect.
Why “Nice” Still Wins in Business
Professional success is rarely achieved in isolation. It is built through collaboration, communication, and mutual respect.
Attorneys who work well with others listen carefully, remain attentive to context, and consider the needs of clients, colleagues, and partners. They respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively, even under pressure.
This approach builds trust over time. Trust, in turn, becomes the foundation of lasting professional relationships and repeat business.
“I’m constantly opening doors; my advice significantly benefits my candidates. I cannot begin to tell how many opportunities come my way. Why? Because I never deceive or mislead my clients. I’m committed to my clients’ success. It’s about respect. My clients trust my judgement, my integrity,” Shari Davidson said.
In an era of rapid lateral movement, remote collaboration, and increased transparency, integrity is more visible than ever. Reputation is no longer confined to one office. It follows professionals across firms, cities, and platforms.
Reputation in the Modern Legal Landscape
Today’s legal professionals operate in an environment shaped by remote and hybrid work arrangements, cross-border collaboration, increased attention to workplace culture, public employer branding, and greater awareness of mental health and burnout.
These factors have changed how behavior is evaluated and remembered. Conduct that might once have been overlooked is now more likely to be documented, discussed, and addressed.
Firms are increasingly willing to separate from high performers who undermine culture, retention, and long-term brand value. In a competitive market, talent is too valuable to risk for the sake of one individual’s ego.
What High Performers Must Ask Themselves
Attorneys who consistently deliver results but encounter resistance, disengagement, or high turnover should take time for honest self-reflection.
Important questions include whether colleagues feel safe speaking openly, whether feedback is genuinely welcomed, and whether support staff are treated with the same respect as senior partners. It is also worth considering how responsibility is handled when mistakes occur and whether leadership style evolves as circumstances change.
In today’s legal environment, self-awareness is no longer optional. It is a core leadership requirement.
From Rainmaker to Risk: When Success Becomes a Liability
High performers are often protected for long periods of time, particularly when they generate strong billables, attract marquee clients, or deliver consistent courtroom wins. Difficult behavior may be overlooked in favor of short-term results.
Over time, however, the cost becomes visible. Turnover increases. Morale declines. Collaboration weakens. Client complaints rise. Reputational risk grows.
Eventually, leadership is forced to make a decision: protect one individual or protect the institution.
In most cases, firms choose the institution. No single attorney is more valuable than the firm’s long-term stability.
The Hidden Costs of Toxic Leadership
Toxic behavior rarely remains isolated. Over time, it creates ripple effects throughout an organization.
Support staff become disengaged. Associates hesitate to ask questions. Junior partners avoid collaboration. Innovation slows. Communication becomes guarded.
When people operate in survival mode, performance inevitably suffers.
This often results in lower-quality work, missed deadlines, increased errors, reduced client satisfaction, and higher insurance and compliance risks.
What may appear as “toughness” on the surface frequently produces long-term weakness beneath it.
Emotional Intelligence Is a Competitive Advantage
Modern legal leadership requires more than technical excellence. It also requires emotional intelligence.
This includes the ability to manage stress without projecting it onto others, read the room, adapt communication styles, resolve conflict constructively, and give feedback without humiliation.
Attorneys who develop these skills build stronger teams, retain better clients, and sustain longer, more resilient careers.
In competitive markets, emotional intelligence consistently distinguishes short-term success from long-term leadership.
Reputation and Digital Permanence
In today’s environment, professional behavior leaves a lasting footprint. Internal messages, performance reviews, exit interviews, and informal references collectively form a long-term record.
As colleagues move between firms, recruiters exchange information, and clients share experiences, reputations travel quickly. Even conduct once considered private can become widely known.
A professional identity is shaped not only by achievements, but by the consistency with which respect, judgment, and integrity are demonstrated.
Rebuilding a Damaged Reputation
If a professional reputation has been damaged, recovery is possible, but it requires sustained effort and genuine commitment.
Rebuilding trust begins with accountability. This includes acknowledging past behavior without defensiveness, seeking honest feedback, working with coaches or mentors when appropriate, demonstrating consistent behavioral change, and rebuilding relationships over time.
Apologies alone are rarely sufficient. Lasting improvement is established through visible, sustained action.
What Firms Are Prioritizing Today
Law firms increasingly evaluate attorneys across multiple dimensions, rather than relying solely on billable hours or case outcomes.
These evaluations typically consider client results, leadership within teams, cultural contribution, ethical judgment, and long-term potential.
Promotion and partnership decisions now reflect these broader standards. Technical skill is expected. Professional maturity and sound judgment are rewarded.
Protecting Your Professional Legacy
Ambition, discipline, and competitiveness are essential traits in a successful legal career. But when they are paired with respect, self-awareness, and consistency, they become lasting advantages rather than short-term tools.
True influence is built on trust. True authority grows from credibility and fairness. Every interaction with clients, colleagues, and peers contributes to how you are perceived.
Your reputation is shaped daily in meetings, emails, courtrooms, and casual conversations. When you approach each of those moments with professionalism and intention, you protect not only your career but your long-term legacy.
About: On Balance Search Consultants
On Balance offers great insight and industry intelligence. Shari Davidson, president of On Balance Search Consultants, advises experienced attorneys at every stage of their career to take them to the next level. From making the lateral partner move to succession planning.
Shari takes a proactive approach to advising law firms on how to take a firm to the next level and helps rising talent make the transition to the right law firm. On Balance Search identifies opportunities that exist today, not down the road.
Contact us today. Call 516-731-3400 or visit our website at https://onbalancesearch.com.
Please note that the content of this blog does not constitute legal advice and is only intended for the educational purposes of the reader. Please consult your legal counsel for specifics regarding your specific circumstances and the laws in your state pertaining to social media and any legal restrictions regarding the law.
