“Resources” is the wrong word for people who work in law departments

One word that ought to be banned from thoughtful writing and speaking is the word “resource” when it describes a human being who does something. What galvanized me to write this tiny diatribe is a recent post of mine that quoted a general counsel as referring to a law firm’s “resources available to actually do the work.”

A defender of the abused term will say that systems and technology and training and leadership are all part of the resource package. Granting that, I still feel that most speakers and writers really mean “lawyers,” or “lawyers and support staff” or employees of the law department. Brevity is no defense, because the engineering and economics term “resources” de-humanizes.

Blogs are wonderful for venting to all the resources who read this!