"You've stunned us into silence." A brave statement uttered by the practice group co-leader after a few uncomfortable minutes of silence on a call with partners from an AmLaw 100 firm. She was reacting to what she just learned and heard for the very first time in her 10 years at the firm. What she and the other lawyers on the call just experienced shouldn't have been remarkable or stunning in any way. But it was. And similar episodes like this play out in various ways across our profession from small law to BigLaw.