Monthly Archives: July 2010

Tiffany Farber is a solo practitioner who has been practicing law since 2008. As someone who has been through transition in her career, she understands the challenges lawyers in this situation face.

Lately, I have read quite a few articles about the decline in mentors at large law firms.  Now, I don’t work at a large law firm, nor do I purport to understand the day-to-day goings on of Big Law, but I do find this fact troubling.

I think many of us have a “now, now, now!” mentality in this country.  We want to get from one day to the next, but we don’t want to think too much about the future.  The future is a nebulous thing to many of us, and it hurts our brains to give it too much credence.  I think that’s bad.  The future inevitably will become “now” at some point.

I don’t doubt the ability of young attorneys, but I do think that they can benefit from the advice and counsel of more seasoned colleagues.  The days of apprenticeships have long since been replaced by the era of the billable hour.  I was fascinated by the articles I was reading about the decline in mentors at large firms, so I asked several of my friends who work at such firms.  Most of them have confirmed that, while their firms are supposed to have mentoring programs, they are a joke and are rarely implemented.   When I think about the number of attorneys at big firms, this troubles me.

If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I am a huge proponent of mentoring.  As a forward thinker, I rarely live in the “now, now, now” but often think about the later.  I had a mentor who was determined to teach me the ins and outs of special education law because he wanted me to carry the torch in the future.  He loved helping junior attorneys.   I imagine some people don’t share his view.  They would rather toss an attorney into the deep end of the pool.  I don’t deny that there is value in feeling your way through a new situation.  I have done it many times and, although scared, have emerged victorious.  Still, I credit my mentors for giving me the courage to take those risks in the first place and being there to offer guidance if necessary.

My uncle, Steve Farber, is a respected consultant in the leadership community.  He travels the world and teaches companies how to be effective leaders and mentors.  His latest book is called “Greater than Yourself,” and it teaches the principle, and art, of mentoring.  In the book he stresses that, even though the notion may be contrary to what our brains tell us, we should strive to teach people to be greater than ourselves.  This means that a senior attorney with the know- how and experience should feel excited by the idea of teaching a less experienced attorney to be even better than him or herself.

I know that mentoring has declined, in part, because people do not want to be usurped by their younger colleagues.   I suppose this is fair, but I do think attorneys who have this viewpoint should try to look to the future.  The future of the legal profession is so much brighter when lit by the guiding light of those who have come before us.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

Among my friends and colleagues who are in the process of setting up their own law offices I hear a lot of conversations about referrals. Is it OK to give another attorney a referral and to collect a referral fee? What if a civilian wants to send a case our way and get compensated for doing that? Can I send out all the cases I get to other lawyers and make a living collecting referral fees? Do I have to pay a referral fee to a lawyer who sends me a case and will he/she notice if I don’t?

Well, the rules changed as of January 2010, and actually were loosened up some from what they were before. Before the new rules were in place, you had to stay involved in any case you referred out to another attorney and actually had to do some unspecified amount of work on the case. Now you no longer have to be involved, you may refer the case out and collect the referral fee when the recipient of the referral gets paid. So the answer to the first question is yes, you can certainly refer cases out and collect a referral fee.

But keep in mind that you are really assuming joint and several liability in order to get any fee at all and that the client has to be informed and consent to the payment of the referral fee.  It seems to me to still be a good idea to stay involved so there is no question that you have earned the fee and to make sure you are not blind-sided by being asked to assume joint financial responsibility after the referral. Rule 1.5 addresses the issue of split fees. The section on advertising, Rule 7.2 addresses working with non-lawyers.

If you enter into a referral agreement, review Illinois Revised Rule 7.2(b)(4) Advertising, and note that notice to the client is required and the reciprocal referral agreement cannot be exclusive.

As to the second question, the answer is a firm no, and this has not changed. Attorneys and non-attorneys may not be partners in business and neither may be compensated by the other for referring cases. This is a tricky rule, because the form of payment may mislead you into thinking that it is OK to accept compensation from a non-attorney.

For example, a couple of months ago I wrote about a situation where a non-attorney wanted to set up an immigration assistance center and as part of the services he wanted to offer attorney counseling on site. He asked me to work with him on this and I immediately realized that I could not. Here is the applicable rule in part:

Rule 5.4. Professional Independence of a Lawyer

(b) A lawyer shall not form a partnership with a nonlawyer if any of

the activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law.

(c) A lawyer shall not permit a person who recommends, employs, or pays the lawyer to render legal services for another to direct or regulate the lawyer’s professional judgment in rendering such legal services.

(d) A lawyer shall not practice with or in the form of a professional corporation or association authorized to practice law for a profit, if:

(1) a nonlawyer owns any interest therein, except that a fiduciary representative of the estate of a lawyer may hold the stock or interest of the lawyer for a reasonable time during administration;

(2) a nonlawyer is a corporate director or officer thereof, except that a nonlawyer may serve as secretary thereof if such secretary performs only ministerial duties; or

(3) a nonlawyer has the right to direct or control the professional judgment of a lawyer.

In the deal in question, the non-lawyer was proposing to pay all the office expenses, the support staff salary, supplies, phones etc. and I would simply counsel individuals who were contemplating submitting or already had, submitted immigration applications. I would charge my own fees and keep those fees. I immediately realized that I could not do that and not be subject to an ARDC inquiry, should it ever come to light. Explaining this to him was another matter altogether and I don’t think he ever really understood the issue.  So that takes care of our second question above.

Can you run your practice on the basis of screening cases and referring them out? Apparently you can, with a couple of caveats. Make sure that both you and the attorney to whom you are referring the case have malpractice insurance. Should the worst happen and the other attorney is sued, you can also be named in that malpractice matter. And, as a beginning point, of course, make sure that the attorney you refer the case to is competent.  This applies to the first question above as well.

Not all attorneys who refer cases out keep careful track of those referrals. Sometimes the cases take years to settle or go to trial, and when people are busy, they can overlook that they referred a case to you. It is up to you to keep good track and to pay out those referral fees as they come due. Do not be tempted to “forget” to pay the fee, it will eventually be noticed and you will kill what might be a good source of new cases for you.

Make sure that when you receive the referral you and the referring attorney have clearly agreed on the referral fee. You do have to notify the client in writing of the referral arrangement, including disclosing the amount of the referral fee.

All of the above is my understanding of the pertinent new rules of professional responsibility and I am not an expert in that area, so please be sure to do your own research and/or to check with a legal ethics expert when you decide to engage in any referral arrangement. Cliff Scott-Rudnick, director of continuing education and professionalism and assistant professor at The John Marshall Law School advised me on this topic, but the information I have provided here is my interpretation of the rules, which can be complicated.

I also encourage you to ask your malpractice carrier for advice on this issue, as well as utilize the attorney advice services of the various bar groups.

Tiffany Farber is a solo practitioner who has been practicing law since 2008. As someone who has been through transition in her career, she understands the challenges lawyers in this situation face.

How come we only expect kids to have imaginations?  Adults need them too!  The best way to use your imagination as an attorney is by channeling someone whom you admire.  When you are feeling exasperated, lost or frustrated, this technique never fails.

A friend once told me a story about a crazy experience he had.  He was given access to a cabin one winter weekend.  It was a freezing night and as he turned the key to the front door, it broke.  Now, picture yourself in this situation.  You have no way of getting inside other than through a door or window, and it’s mighty cold outside.  If you break a window, you are in for a cold night and will likely owe your friend some dead presidents.  Do you know what my friend did in this situation?  He thought to himself, “What would MacGyver do?”  I kid you not.  There was a shed next to the cabin and, wouldn’t you know it, he found some doo-dads in there that helped him get inside the cabin.  As crazy as it is to believe, sometimes it helps to step outside of your body when you’re in a hard or uncomfortable situation.

Now, I understand that there are few uses for dental floss and explosives in a courtroom or client meeting, but there is definitely a place for creativity.  Maybe you know a particularly adept attorney.  Maybe you have studied her moves or picked his brain.  Why not channel that person when you are faced with something difficult?  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be yourself, but aren’t we who we are because of the people who have influenced our lives?

The first time I went to court, I was pretty nervous.  So, I thought about my mom.  Nothing rattles her, and I mean nothing.  I figured that nothing should rattle me either.  I pictured myself as her as I prepared for my hearing, and my nerves were eased a bit.  If you have a particularly important interview coming up, why not try to picture someone whom you find to be articulate and thoughtful?  Think about how that person would handle themselves, and try to emulate his or her behavior.  I don’t think that is disingenuous at all.  At the end of the day it’s you performing, but you are a person with more dimensions when you incorporate the qualities of people whom you admire.

Actors do this all the time, children do it, and athletes do it too.  Modeling your behavior after role models is important, and I don’t think you should ever stop searching for people to look up to.  In life, there will always be people who do something better than you.  Instead of being jealous of them, try to emulate their behavior.  Try to picture what they would do, or how they would think, in a situation.  It really helps when you feel stuck.

This week’s challenge is to step outside of your skin.  I think you will find it more comfortable than you would imagine.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

Yesterday I spent most of the day, while running an errand, unintentionally driving around an old neighborhood. I was struck with a deep nostalgia for the beautiful house I had owned in that neighborhood and for the life that I thought I was going to have living in that house.

As the day progressed, my nostalgia expanded into regret about some of the decisions I have made in my life. I struggled trying to remember what had led up to my leaving that house and went on to thinking that then and on some occasions after that, I made emotional, immature decisions. It blew up into a full-blown regret fest that lasted well into the evening.

For several years in the ’90s I worked for a prestigious company that usually ranks somewhere between 30 and 50 in the Fortune 500 listing. I performed a management job that combined analytical and some creative skills and by several measures could be considered an ideal job, in a place I wanted to live. After working for four years for a man who would have made a terrific career as the hero of those “working with difficult people” seminars, I gave up and quit. Five months later I found out that he had finally, but belatedly for me, been bounced out of the company himself.

How I berated myself when I found that out. Had I managed to hold on another five months I could have kept my career going at that great company. But how could I have known he would finally meet the fate he so much deserved just a few months after I gave notice? Well, the answer is, I had no way of knowing and at the time I quit, I did so because my sleeping was erratic, my nerves were raw and my family life was suffering. I simply could not work in that toxic atmosphere one more day.

I remember only some details of what torture that job had become. I cannot go back and recreate the whole picture of how things were and how I felt exactly, but I have faith in myself. I know I am a rational person, and one that measures options and works hard at considering all the angles when I have to decide something important. And five months later, and now over 10 years later, I believe I considered all the input to my decision to quit and made the right decision. Maybe not necessarily the right career or financial decision, but the right decision for me.

Rationality is a wonderful thing but it can be tricky. How you feel and what an outer situation is doing to your inner self is hard to rationalize or quantify, but how your inner self feels is, nevertheless, real. You can do major damage to your inner self staying in a terrible work situation for too long.

Regret fests are devastating, they can ruin your day, they ruin some people’s lives. Make sure, if you throw that kind of party for yourself, that you don’t let it go on too long. Trot out all the regrets if you have to, feel your way around them, reminisce, weep, yell, swear, talk to the right friend and move on. Believe that when you made the decision, you were right. What now may seem inane or insufficient reasons for your decision were not so at the time. Even if you cannot now justify your thinking then, it was valid then.

What if you conclude, as a result of your regret fest, that you truly made a monumental blunder that can no longer be undone and that you really did not think it through and you made a terrible decision. Follow the same process, analyze as best you can the source of your error, resolve not to do it again and cut the party short. There is zero benefit to dwelling on mistakes, implement a zero tolerance policy for dwelling on them.

And to set your mind at ease, in case you are worried about my personal regret fest yesterday, I feel fine today. I know that even if I don’t remember now all the data I had access to at the time I made certain decisions, I know my reasons were valid and in my own best interest.

Tiffany Farber is a solo practitioner who has been practicing law since 2008. As someone who has been through transition in her career, she understands the challenges lawyers in this situation face.

Some people suck.  It’s unfortunate, but true.  I realize that my blogs tend to have a “Kumbaya” nature to them sometimes, but I stand firm in my belief that not everyone out there is worth your time.  As a job seeker, you probably have a laundry list of things that bum you out.  Fear not, you’re not alone.

I was talking to an attorney colleague of mine a few weeks ago about an experience she had.  She has a small general practice, but she has always been passionate about going into environmental law.  She is so passionate about this area that she reads up, attends CLEs and does everything she can to gain experience in it.  Through networking, she was put in touch with an attorney who is very well known for his work in this area.  He was looking for an intern.  My friend offered to do work for him, for free, to gain exposure to the law.  When asked about her legal experience, she provided thoughtful, in-depth answers and conveyed her extreme interest in working for him.  To her shock, she received an extremely rude response from him, basically, “thanks but no thanks” but not quite that nice.  Was my friend unqualified to work with him?  Absolutely not.  She is an extremely bright attorney with many important experiences under her belt.  Perhaps this attorney was looking for something different in an intern, but he was a jerk to her.  This really made her feel terrible, and rightly so.  I think it would make anyone feel terrible.  I reminded her that some people are just jerks, and it is no reflection on her ability as an attorney.

The moral of the story is, you may experience similar feedback during your job search, but you should try not to take it too personally.  It’s hard not to get pissed or feel hurt when someone gives you the brush off, but just remember that you’re not alone.

Some attorneys are more gracious than others.  They may say you don’t have the right kind of experience yet still thank you for interviewing.  On the other hand, you may apply for a job and never hear back at all.  With so many attorneys applying for jobs, it’s likely that you won’t hear back from many of the potential employers that you contact.  But, if someone is outright rude to you, just remember that you can choose not to keep that person in your life.  Besides, if a potential contact or employer is beyond rude, do you really want to work for them anyway?

There are so many great people out there, try to focus on them.  You’re challenge this week is to try not to let the jerks get you down.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

When I worked as a professional career and outplacement counselor and I helped people develop their career transition skills, I would sometimes hear a client say that they had gone from job to job, that an opportunity happened to come up, that they weren’t sure how they had gotten to where they were now. I helped these people change their approach to their personal story. Here’s what we did.

In most professions planning and execution are important. Having a plan and working the plan are the way to succeed. For example, as a litigator, you develop a theory of the case, you execute by filing pleadings that move your case forward (or defend) and you flesh out your plan with depositions and motions, ending at the trial itself, where hopefully, your work comes to a successful conclusion. In business as well, you have planning, development, execution, and follow up.

Your career search and your background story should follow the same basic steps. How you present yourself when you tell your career story should have the same flow. Your story, as it relates to your work and career, should reveal intention.

Here’s what I mean. Do not say, “A friend told me about this job and I applied and got it.” Or, “I called and was fortunate to get an interview and be hired. A couple of years later I saw this ad for this other type of job and moved to that job.” This type of story telling makes it sound as though you are living your life randomly, going from one thing to another without plan or intention.

Years earlier, as a hiring manager, I wanted to hear that an interviewee had a goal, an ambition, and worked toward that goal and step by step moved closer to her goal. That goal was something she wanted to do and prepared to do and she worked hard towards achieving that objective. I wanted to see that she was not just the ball in a pinball machine, where she went wherever she was pushed, but that she had a plan all along and worked at executing that plan. I think it is just better if you seem in control of your career and are consistently moving towards an objective you have set for yourself.

You are probably thinking a couple of things. One, what if my career has been random like that? Second, what if I started out with a plan and changed it several times for various reasons, some of which were indeed not in my control? It doesn’t matter. You should find a way to tell your story in a cohesive way, demonstrating will and intention behind it.

Work on your career story so that you can do that. Think about the things that initially attracted you to a job (even if it was randomly acquired) that might be constants in other jobs you’ve held. And then, if you have to, push the connection a little. Make sure it sounds as though you are the architect of your fate.

Now you are thinking, is this deceitful? Am I adding intention retroactively where there wasn’t any to begin with? Are you sure? You probably took jobs and made career moves that were consistent with some objective of yours, even if you had never actually voiced that objective, even to yourself. In any case, your job is to get the best job you can, and as long as you do not change the facts of your career or misrepresent your skills, you are good to go, because no one has a right to the contents of your brain.

Tiffany Farber is a solo practitioner who has been practicing law since 2008. As someone who has been through transition in her career, she understands the challenges lawyers in this situation face.

This past weekend I went wedding dress shopping, and I totally approached it like a lawyer.  I analyzed the heck out of every dress I put on.  Some of the dresses were too poofy on the bottom, some weren’t quite right on top and a few of them just were just the wrong color.  I think Goldilocks had an easier time deciding whether her porridge was too hot or too cold than I did on my dress.   After two trips, and dozens of dresses later, I bought the third dress I had I tried on.  The thing is, when I put the dress on for the first time, it just worked.  It looked great and I loved it, but I doubted myself and continued to try on other dresses until I came to my senses.  The consultant told me I was shopping like a lawyer.

I got to thinking about this, and I realized that I shop like a lawyer because I think like a lawyer.  I tend to analyze everything and pose arguments in my head, even during a fun trip to the bridal store.  Thinking like a lawyer is a good thing sometimes, and sometimes it’s not.  All of us have the ability to trust our guts, but we often silence our gut unless it’s hungry.  The first time I put my wedding dress on, I teared up a little.  That was my gut saying, that’s the one! I ignored my gut and, instead, went for the knee-jerk reaction of analyzing everything about all of the dresses, even the one I ended up buying.  In fact, the consultant told me that I was “pleading the case” for my dress.  Yikes, really?  There must have been a time before law school when I could just trust my gut.

If you’re like me, you think like a lawyer outside the courtroom too.  Often those thoughts come in handy, but sometimes they hinder your ability to trust yourself.  This can especially be the case when it comes to job searching.  You may interview with a firm that just doesn’t feel like a good fit for you, but you convince yourself to take the job anyway.  I recognize that times are tough and sometimes you have to take whatever opportunity comes along, but if it doesn’t feel right why do that?  Your left-lawyer-brain may tell you may not apply for a job that sounds great because it doesn’t pay enough money.  It may tell you to compromise your morals and work on a matter that doesn’t feel right to you because you need the experience.  It can tell you a multitude of things, but don’t discount your gut.

I challenge you to silence your inner lawyer and simply trust yourself.  Of course, I recognize that there is a place for lawyerly thinking; I just don’t think it’s the only way of thinking.  I’m here to plead the case for your gut.  Give it a chance.

Aurora Donnelly is a solo practitioner always looking forward to the next exciting transition.

Reading Tiffany’s posting regarding resumes I am reminded of an issue that I haven’t resolved definitively on my own resume. I am pretty sure that other people have the same difficulty. That is, what to do about dates you’d rather not mention?

What if a long time ago you held a job that is highly relevant to the one you are applying for now and you determine it is important to mention it? I understand the requirement to put down dates for all your jobs, usually within the past 10 years, but what to do about really old dates? In my case, the work experience that old job provided is still highly relevant to the financial markets of today, but I am afraid that the dates when I held that important position may be before some of my interviewers were born! Experience is a wonderful thing, but not if it brings to mind someone whom they may think is too old to do a competent job, or as they like to term it, “be a good fit.”

As a side bar, people are aging differently now, and to say the new 40 is the old 30 is absolutely true in many cases, but numbers create stark images, and if an interviewer sees a resume that has her parents’ range of dates on it, even the most broad-minded and non-age-discriminating person might pass up your resume in favor of someone seemingly younger.

Deborah Walker in her online article, “Baby Boomers, Beware! Don’t Let Your Resume Date You!” has a good suggestion: Figure out the approximate age of the person they are looking to hire for the position you are interested in and begin your resume with an experience date that puts you at that age.

The way I have dealt with it so far is to list this type of jobs under a category titled Other Relevant Positions, without dates, as a sort of functional section inside my chronological resume. I don’t really like doing this because I think recruiters and hiring managers notice the dates are omitted and wonder about it. Actually, I am pretty sure they know the reason for the omission. But I am not sure what to do about it.

Job seekers with gaps in employment have a “date problem” as well. Maybe you spent six months traveling after quitting/being laid off from your most recent position and it was a highly beneficial life experience, but would add nothing that would help your professional career transition. Unless you can find a way of listing that time period to  enhance your resume, you probably don’t want to mention it.

One way to “cover up” an employment gap is to create a functional resume. But most recruiters and hiring managers do not like functional resumes, precisely because they are often used to cover things up and are more difficult to decipher than a chronological resume.

Probably the best way to handle a career gap is to explain it in the cover letter, very briefly, and to be prepared to discuss it, again, very briefly, in your interview, if you get one.

I have not found any better ideas online or in career books for handling resume date problems, but if you readers have some ideas that work on this topic, let us know what they are.

Tiffany Farber is a solo practitioner who has been practicing law since 2008. As someone who has been through transition in her career, she understands the challenges lawyers in this situation face.

Resumes are ever evolving creatures.  The more experience you have, the longer they become.  The more jobs you apply for, the more versions of your resume you collect.

Try not to think of a resume as a worthless piece of paper.  Instead, look at it as an opportunity to provide a snap shot of who you are and what you have accomplished.  Here are some resume writing tips you may find helpful:

Change it up:  A resume should be a fluid, ever changing thing.  You shouldn’t write it once and send the same one for every job you apply for.  Chances are, you will apply for several jobs and each of them will be a little different from the next.  Depending on the job you are applying for, you should highlight certain experiences over others.  I recently reviewed a resume for an attorney who has a great deal of litigation experience, especially in real estate.  I told her that if she applies for positions at real estate firms, she should move her real estate specific experience up to the top of her “work experience” section.  If she applies for a position at a general litigation firm, she should move her courtroom, motion writing and negotiation experience to the top.  Your resume probably won’t change dramatically with each job you apply for, but you should definitely move certain things around based on the job requirements.

The basic components: There are many different resume formats, but all legal resumes should include the basic information:  your name, mailing address, phone and e-mail.  Mine also includes my website address.  You should have an “education section” and a “work experience” section.  I also suggest an “admissions” section and a “skills and interests” section.

The order of things: My preference is to put the “work experience” section above the “education section” in a resume.  If you have been practicing for a firm or as a solo practitioner, this experience should be the first thing the potential employer sees.  It is the best way for the potential employer to see what practical skills you have.  If you are a new graduate, try to highlight the great experience you had as a law student and as a summer intern.  Practical experience is always going to impress a potential employer.  Of course, you should definitely highlight your law school accomplishments in the “education section” of your resume.  I think this section should follow your work experience.  Next, I suggest that you include your bar admissions and other licenses in an “admissions” section.  Potential employers want to know if you are able to represent a client in federal court or not.  Finally, I would include a “skills and interests section.”  This section shows that you are a real person.  You have hobbies outside of the practice of law that contribute to who you are as a person.  The person interviewing you may also have a similar interest or, one of your interests could spark a conversation that helps move the interview along.

Remember, a potential employer may not read your whole resume.  Try to highlight the actual experience you have and make sure to tailor your resume to the job you are applying for.

This week’s challenge is to create two working resumes to have on hand.  Be prepared to alter them according to the job requirements.