While driving home from a Labor Day weekend camping trip we passed a tractor-trailer for a delivery company. Across the back of the trailer, just below the name of the company, was their motto "striving for excellence". I think the motto "'driving' for excellence" would have been a catchier phrase, but that's not what got me thinking.

     The trailer looked like it had been on the road for years and the letters on the back of the trailer were worn and faded. Evidently, they had been "'striving' for excellence" for quite some time. Try as they might though, they had not made it to "excellence" in all that time. It would have been nice to see the "striving for excellence" motto crossed out and just beneath it the phrase "excellent since 2005" or something like that.

     I understand the whole thing about always striving to do better. Everyday I ask myself if I'm doing better today than I did yesterday...is my relationship with my wife better...is my law firm better...am I healthier, etc., etc. But after so much striving, shouldn't you be able to reach excellence at some point? Especially if you're a trucking company?

     Let's assume the company employs drug-free, honest employees, that it has gone so many miles without a serious accident, pays an honest wage, complies with shipping regulations, picks up and delivers the goods on time, and charges a fair price. Wouldn't that be enough to warrant a banner that says "an excellent shipping company" or something to that effect.

     I honestly believe that The Fiorletta Law Firm is an excellent law firm. Ethically we can't say things like "the best law firm since 1988" or anything like that in our marketing or literature (even though we are) unless we can prove it. That's fine. I'll let one of our former clients do the talking. She lives in Texas and she had a very difficult family law issue that she hired my firm to handle.

     She writes:

     "The Fiorletta Law Firm is the best I have ever done business with. Allen and Brett are real honest down-to-Earth people. They both talk to you like they've known you for years and they are there for you at the drop of a hat. I had a horrible mess of a case and they handled it with the greatest of ease. They always made sure I knew what was going on. They were absolutely amazing.

     "Not very often do you come across a law firm that has so much passion and caring for what they do. I live in Texas and had to have a lawyer in Michigan and I would recommend them to anyone in either state. If you want to get the justice you deserve these two men are definately the way to go.

     "They are fathers, firefighters, and awesome lawyers. They will definately be the law firm I use for any future legal matters. If you're searching for the right law firm, you've found it!"

Melissa P.

     There. Now it wasn't me who told you that we are the best law firm. It was Melissa P. The fact of the matter is that we had been striving for legal excellence since 1988. A few years back, we reached legal excellence and our motto became "A Tradition of Legal Excellence". Melissa P., and many of our other clients, know why. 

     Here's a possible motto for you U of M fans: "striving to reclaim our pride since September 1, 2007!"

     I wonder how many clients that lil' dig will cost me?? Go State!