Associate, a Pro Wrestling Fan, Sees Lessons for Lawyers
A senior litigation associate at Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell in Dallas has apparently spent way too much time watching professional wrestling.
All that tube time has given associate Kip Mendrygal a chance to ruminate about the parallels between wrestling and law practice, and the lessons that can be learned. He expands on his ideas in an article for Texas Lawyer.
One of his lessons: “Be careful who you smack with a steel chair, because he will probably be your tag-team partner next week.” Mendrygal explains that lawyers are expected to vigorously represent their clients, but “there is a big difference between a sportsmanlike pin of an opponent and ending his career with a tombstone pile driver.” In some cases, he says, bitter adversaries become co-counsel in another case, and then opponents in the next.
Mendrygal also sees lessons in pro wrestlers’ charisma, technical skills and ability to wing it. “It’s not easy to stand up boldly in spandex underwear in front of an arena full of people and on live television and compose a three-minute oratory about a rival—all while pretending you’re an undead mortician when you’re really just a regular guy from Austin,” he observes.
“The best lawyers I know share a similar skill set,” exhibiting technical legal skills, charisma and improvisational ability, he says.
