I will be retiring my tired, scuffed leather briefcase shortly.
When I started my business as a sole practitioner solicitor in 2011, I was focusing on criminal law.
My focus was on trying to pick up business in the District Court, but I believed that the fact that I was only newly qualified would operate against me and I would not be given a chance by some of the experienced repeat offenders on whom I was to rely for fee income.
So I bought this second hand bag on eBay for £5 or £10 with the idea that such an experienced, battered bag must belong to a lawyer who was in the game for a long time. An experienced solicitor.
And given that I was a mature student and late entrant to the legal profession meant I had no problem selling the experience story on a personal level.
Having the bag as a prop worked. This guy was no “newbie” was the message.
I have even had adjudicators in the WRC and strangers on the street making comments about the bag and that it must have seen a lot of action, had stories to tell etc.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The truth was I was using a symbol to tell a story. Because at that time that was the story I needed to tell.
Now I might retire it as it served its purpose and done its job.
It has earned a rest.