Lessons from a lifetime in the law
A few weeks ago, our firm set aside a lunch hour to sit with Lawson Creamer partner emeritus Gary Lawson and simply listen.
Gary retired at the end of 2024 after decades of practice in litigation and corporate-commercial law, and his name has been on our door since Lawson Creamer opened in 1978.
I have known Gary my entire career – as a partner, a mentor and a friend – so I had a good sense of what he might say.
What I did not expect was how much it would land, even for those of us who have heard versions of these stories before.
We billed the session as an ethics-focused lunch and learn, framed mostly for our younger lawyers. What we got instead was a career distilled into plain, practical wisdom that resonated just as strongly with those of us further along.
Integrity Above All
Gary opened with the importance of operating with integrity, and he did not soften it. Files change. Markets change. Outcomes are rarely certain. Your integrity is the one thing that stays constant, and it is entirely within your control.
There will be moments when a client, a deadline or a difficult file tempts you to cut a corner. Gary’s advice was simple: don’t. Whatever you gain in the short term will cost you more later, in ways that are far harder to repair than a lost file.
He drew a sharp line between confidence and arrogance, too. Real confidence comes from preparation – knowing the file cold, understanding exactly what needs to be proven and being honest about where the weaknesses are.
A trial should happen because the case demands it, not because a lawyer enjoys the fight. And much of what separates good lawyers from great ones is not brilliance, he said, but discipline: make lists, follow a process, do not rely on memory when a system will serve better.
That discipline, Gary said, has to sit alongside curiosity. Over the years he took on files involving everything from metal fatigue to complex engineering disputes, subjects he knew nothing about going in. The knowledge itself was not always reused. What stayed with him was the habit of learning on the file, not just before or after it, and the judgment that habit builds over time.
The Lawyer’s Real Job
On clients, Gary offered a line I have already borrowed since: a lawyer’s job is not to make the business decision, it is to make sure the client understands the risk, understands the consequences and has clear advice in hand.
Sometimes the best deal really is no deal.
He had a practical answer, too, for the question every lawyer eventually gets asked: What do you think I should do?
“It’s your decision,” he’d tell the client, “but if it were me....”
It respects a client’s autonomy while still giving them something honest to work with.
More Than The File
Above all, Gary reminded us that law is a team sport. No one carries a practice alone, and the lawyers who try usually burn out or miss things a colleague would have caught.
He spoke about community involvement in the same spirit – get involved because you care, not because you expect something back. People can tell the difference.
He closed with perspective, which felt like the right note to end on.
Careers in law are long, outcomes are uncertain, and the work can easily consume more of you than it should.
Success is not measured only in billings or titles. It is measured in integrity, relationships and the life you build around the work.
Lawson Creamer is approaching 50 years in practice, and afternoons like this one are a reminder of how we got here – not by standing still, but by the kind of people who take the time to pass along what they know.
We are grateful Gary took the time to share it.
Robert M. Creamer, K.C., is a partner at Lawson Creamer. He can be reached at Rcreamer@lawsoncreamer.com.