In my last job, litigating criminal appeals at the Virginia AG’s office, I was assigned a new appeal a few years into my practice. We were appealing a granted suppression motion, and the judge had done an overall good job.

With one exception.

He’d misheard one thing the police officer had testified. And the judge had helpfully put his mistake on the record. That gave me an opening. That one mistake became the centerpiece of my appeal.

A few weeks after I filed my opening brief, my opposing counsel called to discuss a procedural matter. During the call, he mentioned he was having a hard time responding to my arguments. As he put it, he’d even told a colleague I was “like a Brief-Writing Ninja.”

It was easily my favorite professional compliment. And it means a lot to me that he was kind enough to share it.

Eight years later, it inspired a hashtag I started adding to my legal-writing tips on LinkedIn. 25,000 followers later, it’s the name of my legal-writing company.

All thanks to a single comment, proving that a little kindness goes a long way.