I’m on a bus riding from my apartment in downtown Raleigh to the airport. I can’t be bothered to look up from my laptop. If I weren’t typing this for you, I’d be reading or responding to e-mail. I have no idea what’s happening outside of the windows, and I don’t care.

Tomorrow, I’ll be on another bus riding from the airport in Melbourne, Australia to the apartment I’ve rented in the central business district. I promise you that I’ll be looking out of the windows.

What’s the difference between the Raleigh bus ride and the Melbourne bus ride? I know Raleigh; it’s familiar. I’ve seen it all before, and I’m comfortable. In Melbourne, I’ll be seeing something new. I’ll be uncomfortable and on high alert. I’ll be taking it all in and trying to figure it out.

For us as attorneys, most of our work is like riding the bus in Raleigh. We’ve been there, done that. We’re relaxed. It’s familiar, and we feel no need to look out of the windows.

For our clients, however, it’s more like the bus in Australia. They haven’t ridden this route before. From finding the bus stop to buying a ticket to picking a seat, it’s all uncomfortable. They’re looking out of the windows and making note of every turn. They’re feeling every bump and wondering about each and every detail of everything they’re seeing as the bus lumbers along on its route.

Everyone on the bus looks the same, but each person is experiencing the ride very differently. It’s our job to understand that they haven’t done this before, to take them by the hand, and to walk them through this experience. This may be our tenth, hundredth, or thousandth bus ride. For them—for our clients—it’s the first ride.