The remorseful advice of a case-hardened and successful attorney to young aspiring legal professionals.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 distil it to a few bullet points for your client. 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. 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.
Chopped from LinkedIn:) #foydali #kasb #tavsiya
@shmirzayevofficialblog
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 distil it to a few bullet points for your client. 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. 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.
Chopped from LinkedIn:) #foydali #kasb #tavsiya
@shmirzayevofficialblog