Tips for Career Development in Law

I ran into a former student at the University of Miami School of Law yesterday, who shared with me that she had just started her first job as a lawyer in a law firm. She asked me what advice I had for her to find success. ** Learn a lot! For the first 2-3 years in practice, learn as much as you can! Get involved in a variety of matters, which helps you expand your breadth of practice, sure, but also helps you figure out what you like and what you don’t like. As time goes on, try to do more of what you like, and less of what you don’t, because you’ll naturally thrive at the work you enjoy doing. ** Your first job is…just your first job! I think I know 2 law school classmates who are in the same job today that they started after law school 20 years ago. The point is, your first job isn’t your forever job. For many years now I have said to students that if they spend 5 years focused on getting into a specific industry, law firm, or in house role, they’ll get there. Not a single one I know who has tried for 5 years has failed to do so. If your first job doesn’t feel like a long-term gig, that’s completely fine, keep taking steps towards the place you want to be, and in 5 years you’ll be there. ** Be a polymath. If you’re doing litigation, try to get some experience with basic transactional work. If you’re a transactional lawyer, try to get some exposure to the basics of litigation. Circuitously, my practice evolved into a hybrid where half is litigation and half is transactional. This, maybe more than any other single thing, has substantively helped me become a much better problem solver. The more perspectives and tools you acquire, the better your problem solving skills will become. ** Start building your network now. Yeah, I know, you hear a lot of people say this. But it’s true! Spend at least 10-15% of your time meeting people who work in fields you would like to be in. Tell them what your skills are, where you hope to land, your views on big issues in their industry. Share relevant articles with them, attend their industry events, and learn about the things that they encounter at work. What makes them tick? What problems are they trying to solve? In 5 or 10 years, all of these people will be making decisions, if not sooner, and they just might call you for some advice. PS - many lawyers enjoy meeting law students and new lawyers! We were there once, too. ** Be yourself.  In a few years, knowing the law in your area (and how it generally applies to your clients) will be table stakes. Amplify the differences in your background and life experiences; those differences are what make you unique because ultimately, a client is hiring you to exercise judgment, not to tell them what the law is (that’s a given). Your unique sense of strategy and judgment is what will become your style of lawyering, and that’s ultimately why people will hire you. What advice do you have for a new lawyer? #lawyersforinnovators

Twenty-three years ago, as a first-year lawyer, I remember the holidays being a clear point of demarcation. It was a chance to take a few days off and reset. The prior three months had been a sprint, with lots of stress and sleepless nights. I started as a first-year lawyer in the corporate bankruptcy department of a big firm a few days after 9/11, so the work was unrelenting, and I had little idea of what I was doing. But after the new year things settled down a bit—still busy but a more manageable load. I got my feet underneath me. Given the breakneck of the practice of law, I suspect that for many first-year lawyers today, the past three months have been particularly difficult. And I'm hoping that, as I experienced, most of them start to feel a bit more comfortable and confident soon. So what comes next? Here's what I think first-year lawyers should be focused on during 2024. 1. Do your job well. There is nothing more important than that in terms of your career development over the next 12 months. Do it on time. Do it at a high level of quality. Do that, and you'll create a strong reputation, people will want you on their teams, and you will have the opportunity to take on more responsibility. 2. Cultivate an ownership mindset. From client work product to internal firm initiatives, adopt an ownership-mindset for every task you take on. 3. Develop a personal productivity system. One of the reasons the practice of law is often so stressful is that there is always so much to do, the work is often subject to a hard, consequential deadline, and there are so many inputs (emails, etc.) that it's hard for a lawyer to keep up. One of the best investments of time you can make is to develop a productivity system for yourself that enables you—using tools such as your calendar, a master task list, and a daily time-block planner—to capture and control what you need to get done. 4. Maintain (or develop) outside interests. Your job can be all-consuming if you let it. There will always be something else to do. But if you intend to do this over the long term, then you can't just grind all the time. Find something outside of the office that you love and can't wait to get back to—which will lead you to become more efficient and effective with your time in the office. 5. Stay confident. You'll make some mistakes. You'll go through some tough stretches. But you'll come to realize that all lawyers go through the transition period you’re in. You’re not an imposter. You’re not alone. You've got this.

I got my license to practice law in October 2006. Here are the "Top 10" things I wish someone told me 17 years ago: 1. Work like hell in your 20's. This is how you set yourself up for doing something great in your 30's and 40's. If you show up to a job and just do the minimum to remain employed (which many people do) your career will not flourish later. 2. The money you make in years 1-5 after law school does not matter. You need enough to pay the bills. That is it. Don't worry about your friends making more money. The real money comes later. 3. If someone is willing to mentor you, accept it with open arms. You know next-to-nothing about practicing law when you graduate law school. I see way too many young lawyers who don't know how to accept advice and training. 4. Big law is a bad place to work. I know very few people who are fulfilled by a career in big law. There are so many other ways to make money as a lawyer in today's world. 5. If you remain in private practice, you must develop a book of business. A lawyer without a book of business is much easier to replace than a lawyer with a book of business. Start early. Write blogs. Post on social media (appropriately). Network as often as you can. Stay in touch with people from law school. All this will build on itself over time. 6. Your competence as a lawyer is ultimately judged by your performance as a lawyer. No one will care what school you went to or where you graduated in your class. I know a lot of smart people who are bad lawyers. 7. Being a good lawyer requires knowing much more than the law. Most of the time, you need to find practical solutions for clients (not legal ones). You need to develop your ability to see the big picture from the client's point of view and help them solve problems. 8. Clients want short actionable advice. No one cares about your 20 page memo. It is a waste of time and money. Your job as the lawyer is to take the 20 page memo and distill it to a few bullet points for your client. 9. Pick up the damn phone. You may not like calling people in your private life, but the human touch is critical to lawyering. Whether it is your client or opposing counsel, talking is critical so that things don't get lost in translation via email or text. 10. It's all about relationships. Your success as a lawyer is fully dependent on your relationships. If you are building strong relationships at every stage of your career, you will have more clients and more job opportunities as you get into your 40's. #lawyers #attorneys #lawstudents #lawschool