It's a Ship not a Boat.

When I was a very young lawyer working for an exporter who had a number of claims against a shipping company which had not completed delivery of goods, I was brought up short when I referred to one of the shipments being moved off the "boat". My client was very quick to tell me a boat was a very small vessel and all his goods were sent by ships. The tone of voice made it very clear I needed to learn about my client's business and using the correct terminology was part of that.

I was reminded of this when I read Tom Collin's post at MorePartnerIncome on what it actually means for an outside lawyer to understand their client's business. As Tom succintly puts it:

It is not about how competent you are. You are supposed to be competent. It is about your “bedside manner”. You are in the service business. You happen to be in the lawyering service business.
If you want to retain and grow your relationship, you have to invest in understanding the Client’s purpose, its goals, its culture, the issues it faces, and even its “words”.

Respondents to the Harris Cost Lawyer/Mahlab Recruitment survey of in-house counsel indicated that top ranking criteria in choosing an external law firm was understanding business objectives and planning strategies accordingly.

It is the vary exceptional lawyer who can rely on their competence only. And even then, competence only goes so far. It must be applied with the client's particular business interests and issues in mind to be most beneficial.

So take the time to learn your client's business.