Monthly Archives: March 2011

Bill Wilson spent over 20 years in legal departments at corporations large and small, from high tech to brick and mortar, and is writing about various topics while trying to find that next great career opportunity.

It’s very hard to pinpoint when exactly you instinctively know that the answer to the question, “when is it over?” is “now.”  You will probably get to that point gradually, not in giant steps.  But it may come.  What do you do when it comes?

Most lawyers follow a fairly linear path.  You do very well in college, get into law school, find a job and start practicing.  Sometimes it goes according to a pre-ordained plan, with others it’s serendipity and little else.  You find a job you like, you do well at it, and you like it well enough.  You continue to do it because you get used to the income, you have a passion for the law, you enjoy the intellectual challenge, you like the social or professional status that comes with saying “I’m a lawyer” or some combination of all or none of these factors.  But then it’s gone, and your efforts to find another job in the law run into macroeconomic dislocation, a changing legal landscape, or naked discrimination, or something else, and you realize, “I may never get another legal job.”  While that realization comes for older lawyers today more often, it can happen to anyone.

Fortunately, lawyers are reasonably intelligent people with a variety of skills.  It’s important for you to grasp that those skills are transferable to many other professions, and that with some salesmanship and honest self-evaluation, you can move in another direction that may be equally rewarding, personally, professionally or economically.

Inventory what you did as a lawyer.  You wrote lots of different kinds of things.  Speak publicly in front of small and large groups.  Locate arcane information.  Investigate and dispute facts.  Evaluate the veracity of conflicting accounts of events.  Take large amounts of information and distill it into sensible, digestible portions.  Simplify the complicated.  Prioritize, organize and plan numerous projects to meet sometimes unyielding deadlines.  Persuade others.  Work with complex financial data.  Develop and use advanced computer skills.  Educate clients’ employees.  And don’t forget what you learned from your clients – you may already be a near-expert in some very interesting areas because you had to learn it in order to give advice to your clients.

Don’t forget your hobbies and your past jobs before the law.  What skills do they contribute?  I was an athletic trainer in high school, and I am sure could still tape ankles and knees to help prevent injuries, and provide first aid.  I worked for six years in a restaurant, ultimately becoming a traveling training assistant, who taught personnel in new stores how to prepare and serve food according to that restaurant’s policies.  I learned a lot about great customer service and how to get people to deliver it.  Sometimes these skills will be great as they are, sometimes they might need some validation or enhancement through additional training or certification, but shouldn’t be ignored as another advantage.

Once you have this inventory done, learn what other jobs require those skills.  There are a number of tools available on the Internet or in your local library that can aid this process.  In short, while you are often stymied initially by the box that you’re currently in, you need in this changing economy to be flexible and capitalize on how your skills may be transferable.

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.

Attorneys in transition should become aware of the benefits of mediation.  This is one form of alternative dispute resolution that has been increasing in popularity as parties learn the benefits of participating in mediation.

I recently attended a 4 hour MCLE, offered by LEDDED, Ltd., and titled: “The Attorney’s Role in Mediation or the Culture of Mediation.”  Panelists were retired Judge Karen G. Shields; Margaret S. Powers, MSW; Beverly Tarr, LLB; and Sandra Crawford, Esq.

My take away from the messages offered by this dynamic panel are twofold: First, there are several styles and opinions on mediation roles and practices; and second, an increasing amount of family law parties are looking to mediation to increase their value and chance of co-parenting success after dissolution.

In 2006, the Illinois Supreme Court adopted the “900” series of rules concerning time limitations for custody cases under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.  See the “900” series for rules concerning mediation.  Another body of law addressing mediation is Uniform Mediation Act, see 710 ILCS 35 et seq., and see also the website for the Mediation Council of Illinois, a professional organization designed to help the public find peaceful resolutions of disputes.

Let’s face it; if you know family law and domestic relations, you know that traditional litigation can be time consuming, expensive and mentally and emotionally draining on the parties.  Mediators facilitating settlement negotiations do so when the parties are represented by counsel and have agreed to attempt settlement through mediation in lieu of litigation.  Benefits of mediation include value in the investment of resources in a process designed to swiftly address all concerns and attempt settlement to avoid a protracted battle in court.  Proponents of mediation often talk about the increased likelihood that co-parenting will be successful when the parties have participated in mediation.

Karen Shields commented, regarding transitioning attorneys, “Mediation is catching on.  There is value for the clients and for the attorneys, and when mediation makes people happy, the numbers show that the parties feel better about their attorneys’ services as they are generally pleased with the mediation process.”  The panel interacted with the participating audience to engage in open dialogue on several issues including the business of mediation, ethics and confidentiality.  Learning from a multidisciplinary panel was well received.

Mediation has many benefits for attorneys who become trained and learn how to serve in the role of the mediator, facilitating the process of settlement, putting the decision making in the hands of the parties and relying on the attorneys to have prepared their clients for mediation and equipping them with knowledge of their rights under Illinois law.  Mediators are sought privately and are also appointed by courts.  Mediators charge professional rates and can help parties settle their divorce amicably without litigation.  Any attorneys in transition who encounter family practice should learn about mediation and its role in domestic relations.

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.

Recently, my friend Eric sent me a message.  It said, “You want to hear the top stupid lawyer trick of 2011 that I just pulled?”  I have to admit, I was pretty curious.  Eric explained that he’d had an interview with a firm he really, really wanted to work for.  He said the interview went well and that he followed up with a call to thank the partner.  Only, there were two partners at the firm with the same name and he was directed to the wrong one.  Eric was so embarrassed and really bummed out.  He thought that he would never get the job because of the mix up.  Guess what?  He got the job.

The first thing I told Eric was to make sure to thank the correct partner.  The fact that he made a little mix up was not enough to give up on the job, and it didn’t change the fact that he’d had a great interview.  If his intention was to thank the partner who interviewed him, he should do just that.  So, he did contact the correct partner to thank him and, in the end got the job.

There is a certain love match that goes on during the interview process.  Much like dating, you know when something isn’t right or when someone isn’t the “one.”  Clearly, Eric knew this firm was “the one” and they felt the same about him.  One goof up wasn’t going to stop that momentum.

So, what happens when you goof up?  How can you recover from a writing sample that has errors or a cover letter that has typos?  How do you deal with a not-so-great answer during an interview?

First of all, remember that we all make little mistakes, even potential employers.  Try to catch the goof ups before they happen, if you can.  I once had a boss that said, “Your cover letter and resume should have zero mistakes in them.”  In an ideal world, our work product is error free.  But, we live in the real world and sometimes we make mistakes.  Have someone take a look at your stuff before you send it out.  A fresh eye is more likely to catch a typo than your own.

If you realize that you’ve sent out a resume or cover letter with an error in it.  Follow up with an e-mail that says something like, “Please find an updated copy of my materials” and leave it at that.  You don’t need to draw attention to the mistakes you made, but if you can correct them and give the potential employer an error free copy, even better.

What if you make a mistake during an interview?  It happens to the best of us.  If this happens to you, you can try to redirect an answer to another question back to the one you felt you didn’t nail.  Or, if you leave an interview and feel that you didn’t elaborate enough on an answer, or didn’t convey your experience adequately, you can include some brief thoughts in a thank you note.  Try not to dwell on these mistakes because often times we are harder on ourselves than our interviewer is on us.

Remind yourself that, as a human, you are bound to make a mistake or two.  More often than not, things work out in the end.  My friend Eric is a great example of that.

Bill Wilson spent over 20 years in legal departments at corporations large and small, from high tech to brick and mortar, and is writing about various topics while trying to find that next great career opportunity.

The absolute best, nothing-else-comes-close, most likely-to-succeed way to get a job is through networking.  Now that I have said what thousands of others have (which by the way I DO agree with 100 percent as it has worked for me on several occasions, and for countless others that I know), is what I really think networking should be about.

Over the years (though more recently on the increase it seems to me), I have observed people at various gatherings, furiously flitting like a hummingbird from group to group, never meeting your eyes because they’re scanning for the really important people they think might be there, always devoting 5 percent of their brain to what you’re saying and the other 95 to their strategy for “working the room.”  I have visions of a special floor in Dante’s Inferno for such folks where they have to read other people’s business cards 24 hours a day for eternity.  Allow me to submit to you that these people are doing something, but it’s only a perversion of “networking.”  When I see LION next to someone’s name on LinkedIn, I cringe involuntarily.

You can tell I’m not great at “networking” as many people define it.  I’m outgoing – to a point, personable, able to converse intelligently on a wide range of subjects, with a decent sense of humor, but I have near zero tolerance for artifice and glad-handing.  And you have to find what works for you and who you are.

I think your true network should be all about people you have taken time to get to know, or who have worked with you or share another connection such as an alumni group.  You share a fairly good idea of each other’s personality, strengths, weaknesses, talents, contacts, and interests.  You’ve seen each other in action and like what you see.  You know some faults, and while you take them into account, on balance you’re willing to overlook them.  You probably know at least something about their family.  You’ve known them a while, in some cases years.  Some of them are also “friends” in that you’ve met and know their spouses/significant others, and sometimes their kids, been to each other’s homes, and interacted socially.

This group is the result of considerable time spent on development, though you didn’t think of it that way when you did it: you just liked them.

There’s a second group: People who regularly turn up at those professional or alumni meetings, who you know almost on sight, and with whom you have had more than one conversation.  You either have formed, or are beginning to form the impression that they might be someone you’d like to know better.  They’re interesting both as a person and, in part, because of who they are, what or who they know, or because of what they do.  They remember you and will take your call, or take the time to return it.  Both are part of your network.

But the former group is the most critical to your job search.  These are the folks who are going to call that prospective employer and talk with the hiring partner they went to law school with, adding that they think you might be an asset to the firm.  They are going to say nice things about your capabilities when used as a reference.  They have trust and credibility with you and with the other people they might call on your behalf or introduce you to.

The latter group might open some doors, or pass along a hot tip about the hidden market, which is terrific, but value and nurture that first group all the time.  You can’t start when you’re laid off.

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.

Attorneys in transition can take advantage of movement in the marketplace by organizing and launching boutique firms.  Transitions can be communicated proactively and if you make the announcement appropriately, your friends, family and colleagues will consider you a leader.  The recent recession has caused many to move around, and in a period of recovery, this could be the best time to leave the big firm and set up a boutique practice.

If you are leaving a large law firm, and have been there for some time, you have the namesake and credentials upon which future clients might rely when hiring your new firm.  If you worked in the intellectual property group, for example, you likely know other strong IP attorneys who might jump at the opportunity to launch a boutique firm.  Launching a boutique requires the right set of skills, planning and some entrepreneurial spirit among attorneys you know, like and trust.

A proper announcement on good stationery offers the opportunity to signal that your decision to steer your career in a new direction is not a reaction to uncertainty or job loss.  You need not mention anything about the economy.  The style in which you communicate your launch should lead people to infer that you seized a great opportunity.

Members of the new firm should start planning at least six months ahead of their transition date.  During this time, you should first communicate your intention to your current firm, so long as you feel this is safe, so necessary parties can work on succession plans.  Securing the management, marketing, technology and financial components of a new firm also takes much more time and expense than most people realize.  Consider the transition to be an investment and be ready to finance a realistic amount of startup capital.

Once founding partners have a transition plan, a prospectus should be drafted for the purpose of approaching other potential partners.  Your profit per partner numbers increase when you line up the right set of partners; some who make it rain, some who win cases, and others who bring in a strong book of business.  If you have never drafted a prospectus before, look for an equity firm who can suggest some common points you should raise so that potential partners best appreciate the opportunity.

Planning for a transition to a boutique firm often requires outsourcing.  From the professionals who help you launch the new firm, to the outsourced practice management services you might want, consider running a lean firm focused on profit.  Nowadays, many law firms follow traditional business models, and those who practice in business-thinking firms often realize greater profits.  The right combination of talent, planning and execution can make the transition from big firm to boutique a less daunting experience.

Bill Wilson spent over 20 years in legal departments at corporations large and small, from high tech to brick and mortar, and is writing about various topics while trying to find that next great career opportunity.

I was reading an article during the football season about Lovie Smith, the Bears’ head coach, and the writer highlighted his philosophy of never getting too high or too low in the face of media and fan criticism of his lack of visible emotion.  There is a very important lesson here for job searchers.

A job search is a process with deep roots in frustration, despair, pressure and panic.  I think back to Lee Trevino’s old story about “pressure is having two bucks in your pocket trying to make a putt for a five dollar bet.”  Whatever money you have during a search never seems to equal what you need.  Friction between spouses is not uncommon, rooted in money, or simply unspoken fear of impending disaster.

Recruiters who never answer, or never get back to you when promised.  Being rejected for no good reason for jobs you can do in your sleep.  Creditors who don’t take no for an answer. So it can be easy to greet good news with ecstatic joy only to have it replaced five minutes later by crushing despair.

As an attorney you have had some training in dealing with this type of problem: during a negotiation, you are savvy enough not to let your opponent know what’s good and bad by your demeanor.  You maintain your equanimity, even if you just lost the one battle you had to win.  It is essential that you control your emotions and keep that even temperament in your search.

First of all, those very same people who drive you to insanity will react badly if you actually show your emotions, and hurt your efforts to find a job.  I recall a conversation I had with a recruiter at a large well known firm, who told me “I needed to get rid of the bitterness.”  This comment came seconds after I had expressed some umbrage when she told me that a job that she had posted wasn’t available to me because I wasn’t on Law Review, despite the fact that I had represented a similar business for several years quite successfully and was then fifteen years removed from my last report card.  Was she being narrow-minded and clinging to useless stereotypes?  Undoubtedly.  Yes, folks, there are idiots out there, lots of them unfortunately, some in high ranking jobs.  But telling them who they are will not help you, no matter how much you want to.

Second, and far more important, it will hurt you in many other ways.  If you are what you eat physically, then you are what you feel mentally.  It’s going to be enormously difficult to project the confident, ready-for-anything persona that most legal employers want to see in a candidate if you are wallowing in a puddle of self-pity.  You might exude instead a somewhat repellent aura of hopelessness.  After a while, there is a toll on your physical health that is well-documented in the medical literature.  Loss of energy, ability to enjoy the good things that happen, even depression and worse can follow.

Easy – no.  Essential – yes.  There will be challenges, and many of them may appear insurmountable.  To have gotten through law school, you had to display a substantial reserve of self-discipline.  It is time to dip into it, and apply liberally.  Talk with your spouse.  Rely on trusted friends and share your frustrations.  You’re not alone in how you feel.  And if you believe, prayer is not a bad idea either.

Nancy Mackevich Glazer is manager of Legal Launch LLC.  The mission of Legal Launch is to give uplifting and creative career advice to 3Ls, recent law school grads and experienced attorneys.  Nancy helps her clients land gratifying employment – legal or nonlegal  - in a competitive market. www.LegalLaunch.net – Nancy@LegalLaunch.net

This week, I ask:  Do you have a section in your resume that describes your experience drafting motions or briefs while clerking for a firm?

If your answer to the question above is “yes,” take a look at that section of your resume again.  I’m sure you started out the paragraph with a past tense action verb, such as:

“Researched and wrote summary judgment motions, motions in limine and motions to dismiss.”

The past tense action verbs are great; leave them in.

However, if your entry looks like the one above, there is no description of what you did or what value you gave to your former employer or client.  Good impressions about your law school or grade point aside, the partner looking at your resume needs to know exactly what you can do for her.

For example, let’s say she’s has to file a complex motion to dismiss in chancery court in next month and needs some help.  From your resume, noted above, she doesn’t really know if you can handle this task.  Instead of offering generic experience on your resume, “Researched and wrote … motions to dismiss,” try something like this instead:

Researched and wrote summary judgment motion in complex insurance coverage matter on behalf of insured, prevailing on three counts of a four-count complaint; analyzed law and drafted motions in limine and briefs in an employment matter, successfully convincing U.S. District Court  judge to rule against 6 of opposing party’s 10 jury instructions.

By writing your resume in a way that describes exactly what you have done and how you were successful in the past helps a prospective employer make her decision.  She knows you wrote a similarly complex brief in your experience and that you were successful. She sees what kinds of subject matter you have researched and analyzed.  She sees that you added value to the brief, to your former client and to your former firm.

Phrasing your experience as I have done above allows a future employer to see that you can hit the ground running!    Showcasing your talent in this way can help you land a job – even ahead of students who received better grades or who graduated from higher-ranked law schools. In this way, you provide a decision-maker with the tools she needs to go to bat for you in the hiring meeting.

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.

When attorneys in transition decide to launch a new law firm, their best friends are business systems in marketing, management, technology and finance.  I offer these four focus areas based on experience in advising my own law firm clients and also as supported by the ABA Law Practice Management section, of which I am an active member.

Systems are a set of interacting and independent entities designed to work as a coherent entity.

A marketing system compiles and implements actions necessary to achieve one or more marketing and branding systems.  Marketing plans cover between one and five years and may be a part of an overall business plan.  Return on investment can be judged by human capital gains and goodwill generally.  One of my marketing systems includes a weekly calendar for new blog publication and distribution.

A management system is a framework of processes and procedures used by organizations to complete work and meet goals.  Management activities include staffing and human resource functions, balancing work and administrative balance, acting as firm representative in business settings.  One of my management systems includes a Microsoft Online SharePoint portal through which virtual interns can access documents and our agency calendar.

A technology system aggregates the plan for tools, techniques, and methods of organizing data electronically for the quicker transfer of information and increased work production.  Technology assessment and audits often bring light to new time and cost saving opportunities as technology continuously evolves to meet consumer demands.  One of my technology systems is a cloud e-mail and document archiving service to protect my documents from computer crashes.

A finance system wraps around accounting software used as a main application for processing accounting transactions including billing and accounts payable functions.  Whether drafting a law firm budget or hedging future settlement returns against current expenditures, systems for billing, accounts receivables, and future income should be transparent and memorialized.  One of my finance systems automatically transfers money from my payroll account, to my savings account, after first passing through my personal checking account where I receive payroll.

Your systems are works in progress that need frequent maintenance and updating.  Developing law firm systems to meet your individual needs is more appropriate than simply copying what others have done.  I have observed many different systems in client law firms.  Some are quite advanced and high-tech, while others are very simple and require little technology.

Bill Wilson spent over 20 years in legal departments at corporations large and small, from high tech to brick and mortar, and is writing about various topics while trying to find that next great career opportunity.

As many bright attorneys have found out over the last three years,  job searches aren’t always short.  Unemployment lasting a year or longer has not been unusual, unfortunately.  The mortgage company however may lose patience before you get a job.  And you’re not independently wealthy, so what are the options?

I have seen a lot of debate on different websites about which jobs to avoid (e.g., document reviews) and which you should pursue.  I am going to give you one man’s opinion.

Think seriously about your priorities.  As some people say, there is no tomorrow without today.  You need to pay the rent/mortgage.  You need to buy food and maybe medicine.  If you have kids, multiply this problem by twice the number of kids you have.  Whether some stuffed shirt at BigLaw or Notourkind Recruiters thinks you’re indelibly tainted by having done a, yeeeeeccccchhhhh, document review, that is probably far less important than whether your kids go to school in clean clothes or have a house to live in.  And in the long term, ask yourself, if that’s what they really think, do you really want to work there?  If I was hiring someone, I would be more impressed by a conversation where a candidate tells me he took a job carting plastic bottles to a recycler rather than watch his kids go to school without something they need.  That person has initiative, not an unhealthy distaste for the struggles of ordinary people, and the former is a far more desirable quality in an employee than the latter.

And just a word in favor of document reviews: In this day of e-discovery, finding documents, good or bad, in a document review is becoming a lost art.  There was a great article in the May 2010 issue of the ACC Docket, “Why My Human Document Reviewer Is Better than Your Algorithm” that I think every lawyer should read.

One of the things that annoyed me as a GC were outside counsel who were insanely smart (or so they said) and immensely impractical.  Spending more time reviewing documents will reintroduce them to the real world of clients struggling with the right thing to say.  Look at the exercise from this perspective, as you ponder the smoking gun message on the screen in front of you: what if they had come to me and asked me how to write this email before it was sent?  There is a wealth of counseling experience that can be gained from such introspection.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t pay attention to your professional development.  Stay current.  It’s easier than ever, with all of the law related blogs and law firm bulletins and other publications online.  Go one step further: Write an article for one of them on a subject near and dear to your intellectual curiosity.  You might be surprised at who will pay you for it.  Read the new Supreme Court decisions (you always complained you never had time to do it!).  Devote a day each week to pro-bono.  Attend those ABA or ACC meetings you always missed because of the crisis du jour at work. Aside from the networking benefits, you may be able to wangle an invitation to speak and raise your professional profile.  Or give you that bon mot to drop at the next interview.  Not to mention getting you out of your significant other’s hair for a while.

Nancy Mackevich Glazer is manager of Legal Launch LLC.  The mission of Legal Launch is to give uplifting and creative career advice to 3Ls, recent law school grads and experienced attorneys.  Nancy helps her clients land gratifying employment – legal or nonlegal  - in a competitive market. www.LegalLaunch.net – Nancy@LegalLaunch.net

As I’m new around here, you might expect me to write an uplifting piece about how great your chances are to land the job of your dreams.  My clients know, “uplifting” is what I typically do best, making their job searches exciting, “upbeat” even.

What I’d like to do with this introductory writing is give you something of value that will actually improve your resume and help get you an interview.  My suggestions always require more work on your part.

I know you have finally crossed off the “revise resume” entry from your lengthy “to do” list.  Here I am, new kid on the block, saying, “Take another look!”  (I know, too, that you’ve revised your resume nearly 100 times and that you just can’t even look at it any more without getting dizzy …)

Okay.  Do you have your resume in hand?  Let’s check to see if your resume is cutting-edge:

1.  Does your resume add value or “quantify” what work you performed for a past employer or client?    A cutting-edge resume for 2011 helps a prospective employer see in real numbers how your past work was valued.   For example, if you clerked in-house for an insurance company, your resume might say:

“Creatively helped resolve a multi-party lawsuit.”

This is a great entry.  However, to add value and show a future employer how you are even more valuable, consider changing the entry to read:

“Saved company $200,000 in legal fees by creatively resolving a complex, multi-party coverage lawsuit.”

By adding more detail (provided you can remember the resulting successes you actually had), you have now quantified the value of your work.   Everyone is looking to save money; this entry now hits a chord with the reader.

In addition, you have now described to a hiring attorney that you handled a specific kind of case regarding a coverage issue and that that it was complex.  These details, especially the cost savings, help a prospective employer see that you are the one he wants to hire.

2.     On your resume, did you indicate that you observed trials or depositions? If the answer to this question is “yes,” know this:  the attorneys reading your resume or sitting on the other side of the desk from you don’t really care that you watched courtroom action.  While seeing trials and depositions may have been quite exciting for you, if you worked for a judge or for litigators, this experience is simply assumed.

If you are fighting for room in every line of your resume, this is where to cut in this section.  If you must include the phrase about your talents “observing” in any part of your resume, try to bury it, perhaps in the middle of the section or at the end.

If these strategies were helpful to you, watch for Part II of this blog next week.  That entry will discuss how you describe your experience writing motions and briefs in your resume.