Monthly Archives: November 2010

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

Recently I read in the Chicago Tribune a short article offering tips to recent college graduates about how to behave on the job. It struck me how simplistic those tips sounded when you compare them to what is expected from new law school grads beginning their law career.

I am comparing someone who has already been educated in a profession to an undergrad, I know, but for the first few months as a lawyer, there isn’t much difference in “life knowledge” of a recent college grad and a law school grad. Yes, the law school survivor knows a lot more and has theoretically been taught to think as a lawyer, but he or she has not been out practicing yet.

For people who go directly from college to law school there isn’t much immediate difference between emerging with a law degree to being handed a B.A. diploma, for example. The differences quickly develop though, as law school graduates proceed into their new roles as attorneys.

One of the tips for new grads is not to gossip in the workplace. Good advice in any work setting, but loaded with consequences for a new lawyer. As a new attorney, deciding what you can talk about and what you can’t is difficult. The more involved you become in your practice, the less you decide to talk about your firm and your practice. Talking about clients or cases with the wrong person, or discussing what goes on in the workplace can result in serious ethics violations.  There have even been situations where attorneys reading case materials in a public place, like a train, where other people can look over their shoulder, have been up for disciplinary action.

Among the tips discussed in the article are being reliable and its mirror image, procrastinating, respectively. While putting things off may be fairly harmless in a regular work setting, procrastination by an attorney can cost him his law license. Missing a crucial court date or a filing date can have serious repercussions on an attorney’s career. Being reliable is the essence of being a lawyer. As advocates for our clients reliability is expected and required.

The article recommends keeping your voice at a moderate level. A lawyer’s voice can be, in certain settings, an integral part of her strategy. Certainly the loudness and the tone of your voice is a tool at trial, and even in front of certain judges at a simple motion call or hearing. When I first started practicing I was occasionally drowned out by loud opponents and quickly learned how to use my voice to keep the judge’s attention.  If you can’t be heard you won’t prevail.

The article warns against making personal phone calls at work and surfing the web or spending time on social networks. In my experience, there is never time to do any of these things. Most lawyers are so busy that they struggle to keep up with client matters, or, they have an hourly billing requirement and doing any personal business at work is an impossibility.

The contrast between being a business person and working as a lawyer is stark when it comes to positive or negative behaviors. It wasn’t long after I began practicing as a lawyer that I became sharply aware of the awesome responsibility that goes with being an attorney.  Having experienced the business workplace as an executive in charge of seven-figure budgets and many personnel was not as significant as having responsibility for whether a mother keeps custody of her child or whether an unemployed person can keep a roof over their family.

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

Older friends tell me, almost unanimously, to wait as long as possible to retire. Some who did well retired in their early 50s — they were excited about all the free time they would have to do their own thing once they shed the work routine. Some of them found themselves looking for something meaningful to do after only a couple of months of retirement.

Having a hobby doesn’t necessarily satisfy the need for something meaningful to do. Playing golf gets to be a routine also, and eventually loses its attraction. Shopping, lunches, taking/teaching classes occupy your time and mind for a while, but what happens with the rest of the time? You have to have a passion that drives you.

A lawyer friend and mentor is almost 80 years old and he is always eager to take new cases (the ones that interest him) and feels he could handle even more work than his pretty brisk practice provides. And law is his second career after retiring as a medical doctor!

I do know someone who is happy not working and at 56 has been retired for eight years. But even so, she has problems sleeping and seems to become obsessed with her many causes. She was a successful business owner for years and all that energy has to go somewhere now.

Whenever I have a free window of time I do some pro bono work, but that is not the same as being in the fray of practice, with a steady stream of appointments, court dates and filings or having some other place you have to be at a specific time to do some specific thing for pay. When I am not busy I worry about my sense of worth and feel unanchored, you could say I get depressed. There is a tight connection between my work, my ability to bring in an income and how I feel about myself.

So older lawyers, in spite of the condition of the legal market and the economy, are likely to keep going for quite a while past traditional retirement age, given that they enjoy good health. We may not be as busy as we would like, but we’ll be out there grappling with work issues, just like our younger counterparts.

One of the benefits of being an attorney is that you can practice as long as you can competently represent your clients. Since you don’t answer to anyone but yourself you can work as long as you are able to sign up clients and do the work. Part of my motivation for going to law school later in life was to have interesting work to do for the last couple of decades (hopefully!) of my work life.

I am happy to realize that I don’t have to go through my “not working anxiety” any time soon, I don’t have to worry about coming up with engrossing hobbies or how to fill my time. So far in my career that has never happened, I have always had more to do than I could realistically get done and for me, that’s good.

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.

Monty Python teaches us to, “always look on the bright side of life,” but what happens when we just don’t feel like looking on the bright side?  In my non-expert opinion, acknowledging your crummy feelings is important.  If you take the “fake it ’til you make it” position in life, it’s likely that you will erupt one day.

You shouldn’t feel guilty if your friend gets a job and you are jealous.  You shouldn’t feel stupid if you get upset by a rejection letter.  It’s okay to feel those things; you are not the first or the last to feel them.   We all deal with our feelings differently.  Some of us run 8 miles, some of us cry, some of us ball the letter up and throw it on the floor.  The important thing is to try and strike a balance between experiencing negative feelings and wallowing in them.

If you aren’t able to pick yourself up and dust yourself off, then you may need a little bit of help.  Sometimes talking with a friend or partner can help you feel supported.  There are also informal groups of job seekers out there, like the one that I run, that allow you the chance to vent to other people who are in the same boat as you are.  You can also set a goal for yourself that is completely separate from your job search, like running a race or organizing a room in your house.  My goal for this month is to write a short story, and this goal has nothing to do with my life as an attorney.

When you talk with folks who remind you that you are more than a job, you will feel better.  If you engage in activities that are separate from your job search, you will feel well-rounded.  I have a friend who volunteers to pet sick cats at the animal shelter.  It is a simple activity that puts her in a good place emotionally.

I completely understand the knee jerk reaction you may feel when someone tells you to, “just be thankful for all the great things you have going on in your life.”  Even with Thanksgiving fast approaching, you may want to kick that person.  Just remember that it’s okay to feel whatever it is you are feeling, even if you have a lot to be thankful for.  Humans are complex creatures with complex emotions.

The simple truth is, unless you take care of your psyche, you will feel terrible and it will be evident.  A bad attitude follows you around like a low hanging cloud, and sometimes it’s hard to get that cloud to dissipate.

If you feel like singing the blues, sing them until you feel better.  Once you feel better, see if you can anchor that feeling for a while.  No matter what your job search trials and tribulations are, you are still charged with the duty of taking care of yourself.

J. Nick Augustine J.D. is the principal of ALR/PRA, Inc., a full service law practice management agency.  Nick advises and assists attorneys in transition in public relations and marketing.  Nick also shares recruiting and staffing experience and tips for legal job seekers.

Some say that tort reform hurts the business of personal-injury law.  When economic factors trigger different types of legal service needs, many service providers shift gears to new legal practice areas.  There are several considerations and options for practice area transfers.

You have all likely known a colleague who worked in insurance defense and that’s how you know generally know and remember them.  Imagine that you see them a few times in court on insurance defense cases.  All seems well with your friendly insurance defense guy until one day he takes an in-house counsel position at the insurance company.  Not only will your friend not be in court as often, his day is likely going to change drastically.

Like the insurance defense attorney, we all develop specialized skills sets in practice areas by continuing to gain practical experience in each practice area.  Over time we become valuable attorneys when we have navigated complex and various matters and have developed a feel for your area of law.  When considering transferring to another practice area, it makes sense to assess the assets you possess in one area of law and consider whether they are transferrable.

Your practice area may be dead, you will have to transfer, ask the attorneys who used to live off of real estate closings.  This can be an inevitable situation and if you find yourself in this predicament, fear not, resources are quick and easy to find.  Many general practitioners have built trips to the law library into their schedule so they could quickly research a potential client’s case in an area of law they’ve not previously navigated.  If you have to involuntarily change course in your career, make sure you locate and learn from a trusted and ethical attorney in your new practice area, someone who can help you avoid some pitfalls.

When the other side is greener, you may feel persuaded to change.  If you dislike transactional work, civil litigation may sound really appealing to you when you want to draft great pleadings and take cases to the appellate courts after a battle at trial.  The reality of litigation may be quite different than you expected on the day to day routine and set of unique obstacles.  Try asking a small firm litigator if they have time for lunch.  Seriously, if you take someone to lunch they may impart some wisdom to help you make an informed decision.

Testing the waters of partnerships requires trust and patience.  Partnering can be tailored to each unique work relationship.  You can add a partner with another practice area and you can learn from your new partner as you go and eventually you can pick up their new practice area.  Whatever you do, don’t quit your day job until you’re sure the new setup is going to last.

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

It’s Monday, where are your mind and heart? For many people Monday morning is the nadir of the week. If you looked at the week graphically, Monday might be the bottom of a hill, Tuesday a slight grade up, then Wednesday might be the top of the hill and then the rest of the week is a pleasant grade south, with a placid, clear blue lake at the bottom– the weekend. That, anyway, is how a lot of people think about their week

In great contrast, when I was litigating cases, my hills or mountains had a different timing, they were more like a roller coaster, great exhilaration at the onset of the case, when I felt I could help a client, right a wrong, put them back to where they were financially before the adversarial event happened, etc.

My Mondays then were when I had to do depositions with uncooperative opposing counsel, with occasionally recalcitrant witnesses who offended my sense of justice and fairness.  My Mondays were when I had to respond to frivolous, time-wasting motions from the other side, or when I got sideswiped by some fact of the case. But even those days were filled with purpose and energy.

My Wednesdays were when I was ready for trial and the trial proceeded. The blue lake at the bottom of the mountain was when the case was completed and won. My life at that time had little to do with calendar weeks or even the 24 hours in a day (normal sleep and waking hours were meaningless in the days leading up to a trial) and much to do with the rhythms of my work.

“Blue Mondays” are more rare for people who love their work, as I did litigation, Mondays are a time to get back to what you love, to what gives energy to your life and a boost to your ego. These people usually see the weekend as a waste of time and sometimes work right through it. Their work hill might even be reversed, with Monday being the top of the hill and Friday the nadir, when they have to take their attention away from their work and turn it to other things.

These are the lucky people.

Most of us are somewhere in between when it comes to our view of the days of the week, but I would guess Monday is not usually anyone’s favorite day. After swimming in cool blue waters during the weekend getting back to the work routine may not be fun, having to follow someone else’s schedules (your employer’s, your boss’s) and not being free to use your time as you see fit, having to be in some specific place from this hour to that hour.

All this has to do with urging you to make every effort to make a living at something you like, even enjoy. I have doubts about the universal applicability of that saying –do what you love and the money will follow. But I don’t doubt that doing what you like makes your life healthier and happier, and you are probably more apt to be successful at something you like, because it logically follows you will do it well and be more committed to it. But even if you can’t do exactly what you want to do, try hard to find some variation of your dream job that will make you not hate Mondays.

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.

You know the Golden Rule?  Well, it goes further than tipping the barista so she will add an extra pump of chocolate to your cocoa.   It’s also true in the business world.  You never forget great advice given to you by a mentor attorney, so here is a gem I picked up from one of mine—be nice to opposing counsel, even if they don’t deserve it.

While zealously advocating for your client, you may become emotionally involved in his or her case.  It happens.   When your emotions are high, it may be hard for you to hide them.  When you have someone on the other side of your case who believes strongly in an opposing position, you may butt heads.  Try to remember that the best way to serve your client is by first being a professional.

I was out with a fellow attorney the other night, and she definitely understands this concept.  She explained that she often feels strongly about client matters, and that she also often works with the same attorneys.  She has no trouble relating to these attorneys on a personal level one moment, and then telling them that she plans to object to one of their exhibits the next.  She separates work from friendship.  It’s entirely possible to get along with someone on the other side of a case and still advocate for your client.  I’m not saying it isn’t hard to relate to someone who holds a position that you are opposed to, but remember that his or her position is just one part of a whole lot of other positions that the person holds.  Even though you may not agree with him, that other attorney is just doing his job like you are.  One day the case will be over and you may have to work with that attorney again.  If you are unpleasant now, they will likely be unpleasant later.

So, what happens when you have a true jerk on the other side of the phone line, or sitting across the table from you?  Well, you can’t really do anything about that.  The best thing to do is remain professional and keep your emotions in check.  It looks better to your client, the judge and, when the dust settles, opposing counsel.  There are so many ways for attorneys to be courteous, rise above the jerks.  A colleague of mine did.  After an appellate argument, my friend was totally rebuffed by opposing counsel.  So, my friend rose above it and went to shake her hand.  Opposing counsel didn’t seem too keen on shaking my friend’s hand, but she shook it all the same.  I’m sure that it sent a clear message—you may be a jerk, but I am not.

Perhaps I am lucky because I have yet to encounter someone awful on the other side of a case.  I’m sure that it will happen one day, and when it does I will be ready with a handshake and a smile.  If you have a downer on the other side, remember that the case isn’t about you anyway.  It’s about your client.  As long as you are working in the best interest of your client, who cares what anyone else thinks of you?

J. Nick Augustine J.D. is the principal of ALR/PRA, Inc., a full service law practice management agency.  Nick advises and assists attorneys in transition in public relations and marketing.  Nick also shares recruiting and staffing experience and tips for legal job seekers.

Apprenticeships are common in many professions.  Training the skills needed to practice a chosen trade requires on-the-job experience in addition to formal education.  Prior to the establishment of accreditation procedures for law schools, the lack of formalized legal training was covered in clerkships where apprentices learned from seasoned attorneys and slowly earned more responsibility and control over their work.

Several law firms are considering and implementing apprenticeships for first-year associates who didn’t have extensive clerking experience during law school.  These associates may be paid less during their first two years of work; however, they are closely supervised and taught how to handle client matters by senior attorneys at the firm, and become trusted and profitable attorneys in less than average time.

Today, in this tough economy, there are many young lawyers who cannot find jobs and consider launching solo practices.  While many newly licensed attorneys have access to the proper legal resources to research, draft pleadings, conduct proper court appearances and hearings.  What the resources cannot teach however; is experience, and knowing what to do when your client, opposing counsel or facts take an unexpected turn into uncharted territory.

In and around bar associations and law schools the formal requirement for apprenticeships for young lawyers is a topic of debate.  Proponents push for a mandatory apprenticeship requirement similar to a residency in medicine.  Many of the young attorneys are likely to respond favorably as well, as the stress of decision making and strategy easily overwhelm a young practitioner.  Critics of formal programs may stress the inequity of reduced initial salaries while law school tuition continues to increase.

If I were graduating from law school today and couldn’t find a job I would consider launching solo and establishing an informal referral-based apprenticeship with a seasoned practitioner.  The rules in most jurisdictions require lawyers receiving referrals to 1) disclose that transaction to the client, and 2) monitor the case and remain some level of responsibility.  The case monitoring aspect really opens the door to a mentoring relationship.

I would first cover my fixed expenses with a “day job” or some part-time but steady income stream if I didn’t have savings to pay the bills while hanging my shingle.  Next, I would compose a letter to known attorneys who may have more work than they would like but not enough to take on a full-time associate.  That lawyer may turn over some files or send incoming referrals my way, at which time a standard letter would disclose the referral fee paid and the nature of the working relationship.

There is no substitute for experience and advice of seasoned practitioners in any profession.  Informal apprenticeships present a win-win scenario for the mentor attorney and their protégé attorney.

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

This story is not about a lawyer, it’s about a nurse.  There has been a lot of press recently (actually for the last few years, but definitely since the economy tanked) about how the law school system should change, how we should change the way we prepare lawyers, how the student loans create an impossible situation for new lawyers just starting out, saddling them with debt they cannot pay back.

This week I was talking to a retired operating room nurse who specialized in neurosurgery.  She told me that she had been a nurse for over 40 years, that she was lucky to have picked work that was perfect for her.  She credited her training in great part for having made her a skilled and happy medical worker.  I deduced from her story and the prominent hospitals where she worked, that she must have been a very good nurse.

She told me she became a nurse, even though she had wanted to be a librarian, because there was no money in her family to pay for university.  She grew up in a country cottage in Wales, lovingly reared by her grandmother.

In the U.K. at that time, nursing education was not only free, but you were paid throughout your training.  After a three-month training and evaluation program, she enrolled in a Preliminary Training School, during which the student/apprentice was paid the equivalent of minimum wage for living expenses.  During the training, you graduated to successively more complex jobs through several layers of advanced nursing education and on-the-job training.

She did her final training in pediatrics in Liverpool and soon after that she accepted an exchange position and set off to Boston Hospital. She never did go back to the U.K. and instead had a fulfilling nursing career in various cities in the U.S., contributing to her adopted country by expertly caring for fragile patients.

As I listened to her story it occurred to me that it would a great solution to our problem of training lawyers. Most of us have at least minimal skills learned in college, most people take a law course either in high school or college, I am pretty sure most of us could learn the rudiments of a legal education in the same way as the nurse did.

Each aspiring lawyer could attend a short training program, having passed something like the LSATs with a minimum score while being paid for minimal living expenses, under the supervision of a senior lawyer.  Progressively more difficult tasks would add to the learning and the lawyer or law firm would receive low-cost legal work in exchange for this “sponsorship.”

Once the apprenticeship was completed, the new lawyer could agree to work for the firm at a relatively low salary for a year or two.  Everyone would win.  No one would graduate with major debt and no way to pay it back.  If you couldn’t find a sponsor attorney or law firm, or government office, you wouldn’t become a lawyer, which would solve the lawyer-saturation problem we currently have.  You could seek the sponsorship of a firm in the area of law you in which you were interested.  New lawyers would know something about practicing law when they finished their training.  This is not unlike the system in place for producing doctors.

I guess not everyone would win.  The law schools would shrink and dedicate themselves to a few specialized classes, like legal writing and research, and revenue from students with un-repayable loans and no employment opportunities would be significantly reduced.  I am not sure what would happen to the millions made from bar prep programs. Maybe that would be a good thing, maybe it would work better.

J. Nick Augustine J.D. is the principal of ALR/PRA, Inc., a full service law practice management agency.  Nick advises and assists attorneys in transition in public relations and marketing.  Nick also shares recruiting and staffing experience and tips for legal job seekers.

Why network?  For many people who fail at effective networking skills, the honest level of interest in others is the main opportunity killer.  Simply going through the motions of meeting new people and aggregating contact information does not convert networking into a high payoff activity.  Networking events are opportunities to make real personal connections with people you would consider as friends while you compare ideas about business.

We gain in the short term.  Soon after we first meet a new business contact we can take the first step of storing their contact information in a database.  Being certain to take some notes on the back of a business card, use your reminders to remember something about the person you met.  After meeting you might send a short e-mail with an attached note about you or the services you provide.  It is a good idea, when first exchanging contact information through e-mail, to ask or acknowledge who may be a good referral or what business opportunities you might spot later and be in touch.

We gain in the long term.  After time we notice that some contacts’ names appear before us with greater frequency.  Some, on social networks, and others in e-mail marketing newsletters.  Often times we haven’t seen the contact in person since we started receiving all their electronic correspondence.  Why not pick up the phone from time to time?  By calling a contact when you are reminded of them while busy in another activity, you show them you remember something about them that jogged your memory.  At that point you may casually chat about “How is business?”

Don’t be a card collector.  Nobody likes the 30 second introduction, card exchange (hand-off), and run approach to making new business relationships.  When you sit down and transfer the data from the cards you collected, try to look at each card and picture the person who gave it to you.  If you can’t, are you sure you should really keep their contact information?  Take the time at networking events to make lasting impressions.  Don’t give your card out to everyone you meet, see if they appear interested in staying in touch, and if so, then give out a business card.

Entering conversations is a learned skill.  If two people are already talking, you can tell if they look interested in their conversation to the point you don’t want to bother them, and if so, don’t.  Seasoned networkers will notice other people nearby who may want to say hello.  Often being mindful, savvy networkers will keep one on one conversations short so they can meet new people.  Don’t worry, you’ll likely get the chance to meet everyone you want if you’re patient.

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.

Tuesday was Election Day, which I’m sure is not news to any of you.  With all the political ads, how could you miss it?  If you exercised your right to vote, you played an important role in the democratic process.  If you didn’t, I’m not going to harp on you.  Hopefully, you exercised something at the gym.

At some point in our lives, someone has told us that voting is our civic duty.  Some of us may not take that duty seriously, but the woman standing in line behind me while I waited to vote definitely did.  The woman, who was originally from Hong Kong, explained that it was her son who impressed upon her how important voting is, so she was eager to cast her very first ballot ever.

While we sat waiting for booths to open up, she asked me and my fiancé a ton of questions about the electoral process in America.  We also talked about the differences between Federal and State government, we explained that some judges are elected and others are appointed, and, of course, we talked about the history of corruption in Illinois. It was a really cool opportunity to think about how things work in our country.  When you go to vote, you don’t often think about the various aspects of democracy.  You just vote for whomever you feel is qualified.  Speaking with a new voter was a very cool experience.  It isn’t often that you get to sit down and explain the political process to someone right before they vote.   It really gets you thinking.

I voted in my first election when I was in college in Indiana.  I was bummed because I cast an absentee ballot.  I didn’t have the experience of voting in my hometown like I had always imagined I would during my first election.  In the end, I realized that it didn’t matter where I physically voted, it just mattered that I voted at all. I think the thing I have grown to love the most about Election Day is the camaraderie I see.  Although political beliefs may differ, everyone shouts the same command: “vote!”  People volunteer at the polls, they remind each other to vote early, and they weigh in on their candidates of choice.  There is something very comforting about the process.

On Tuesday, I listened to a lot of people proudly announce that they voted.  One of my friends even threatened to disown her boyfriend for not being a registered voter, although I’m fairly sure she was bluffing.  Others griped about political ads being offensive or told stories about where they were during the presidential election two years ago.

I kept thinking about the woman I met in line.  She was so excited to vote, and she was even more excited to tell her son that she voted.  Voting is something to be proud of.  I know that I’m proud to live in a country that gives me the right to vote.

Some people would say that I’m a member of the Pepsi Generation.  I disagree.  I’m a member of the Rock the Vote Generation, and I rocked mine.