Video: This is NOT for most lawyers and barristers...

December is when most barristers and lawyers push through.

Files to finish.
Clients to manage.
Deadlines to clear before the year turns over.

What very few do at this point is pause to look at how they’ve been practising — especially under pressure.

That’s a problem, because pressure doesn’t just reveal competence.
It reveals patterns.

A second opinion made this obvious.

I was recently asked to give a second opinion in a matter that had been settled in principle.

On review, two things were clear.

Some of the documents were defective.
At the same time, a consistent pattern in how the negotiations had been handled was evident.

Artificial deadlines.
Escalation as default.
Correspondence designed to pressure rather than resolve.

These weren’t isolated choices.
They were habits.

And habits don’t stay in one file.

Why patterns matter more than people realise

The way you handle conflict under pressure shows up everywhere:

• How you negotiate

• How you manage clients

• How do you deal with urgency

• How you exercise judgment

Left unexamined, those patterns become “how you practise.”
And over time, they shape outcomes, reputation, workload, and trust — whether you intend them to or not.

You can’t decide where you’re going until you’re honest about where you are.

Without that honesty, the same behaviours repeat year after year and get explained away as strategy or just the way things are done.

Wanting change isn’t the same as deciding it

Most lawyers say they want next year to be different.

More control.
Better boundaries.
Less reactivity.

But change doesn’t come from wanting.

It comes from deciding what you’re prepared to stop — and what you’re willing to start.

Not wishful thinking.
Not good intentions.
Actual decisions.

If 2025 ran you, 2026 will too — unless you plan and decide deliberately. Nothing improves by accident.

A practical next step (if you want one)

If you want a clear plan in place before the year ends — not more resolutions or vague intentions — I’ve put together the 2026 Lawyers Reset Kit for precisely that reason.

It’s designed to help you reset by design before January urgency decides for you.

You can request it by emailing [email protected] 

No pressure.
Just a tool for lawyers who want to be deliberate about how the next year of their life runs.