Clients of Blawgletter's law firm told an outside consultant not long ago that they have "fun" working with our lawyers.

The funny thing? She hadn't asked them whether they enjoyed working with us. They volunteered that they do. Insisted on telling her that. Demanded that she write it down.

That took the interviewer by surprise, she told us. She said she couldn't recall clients using the f-word in talking about lawyers at any other firm.

It didn't feel like a revelation to us. We whose founding partner told The Wall Street Journal last month that he advises the firm's lawyers to behave as "lovers" instead of fighters. You get better results with the other side, he said, if you use sugar instead of vinegar.Jennifer Smith, "Lawyers Behaving Badly Get a Dressing Down from Civility Cops", The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 28, 2013.  Amen to that.

What works in your dealings with the opposing counsel you want to beat on the merits goes double for the client you want to trust and help you. A happy warrior pleases everyone more than a dour and grumpy one.

Don't get the idea that having a sense of humor, smiling now and then, and showing a real interest in your clients' and colleagues' families and paying attention to their daily challenges substitute for preparation, judgment, and execution. They don't.

But what client doesn't want both, we wonder.

What do you think, all you Blawgletterati out there?