This is the property of the Daily Journal Corporation and fully protected by copyright. It is made available only to Daily Journal subscribers for personal or collaborative purposes and may not be distributed, reproduced, modified, stored or transferred without written permission. Please click "Reprint" to order presentation-ready copies to distribute to clients or use in commercial marketing materials or for permission to post on a website. and copyright (showing year of publication) at the bottom.
Subscribe to the Daily Journal for access to Daily Appellate Reports, Verdicts, Judicial Profiles and more...

Perspective

Mar. 24, 2009

Grains of Wisdom: the Similarities Between Rice Paddies and Law Firms

Principles of rice farming, applied to the practice of law and to the management of firms, suggest some unexpected parallels.

By Jonathan R. Fitzgarrald

For over a thousand years, rice farmers throughout Asia have had to identify, address and successfully overcome a number of daily threats in order to survive. Unlike other occupations, being merely "good enough" in the farming of rice is ultimately fatal.

As legal practitioners and professionals in a rapidly changing competitive environment, we too face issues - some routine, others unprecedented - that must also be appropriately addr...

To continue reading, please subscribe.
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$795 for an entire year!

Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)

Already a subscriber?

Enewsletter Sign-up