Monthly Archives: October 2011

Angie Robertson graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2010. She has experience with public interest law, family law, legal document review and sales.  When she is not reading or writing about law, she enjoys live music, exploring Chicago, watching roller-derby, and spending time with her husband and her dog.

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”- Steve Jobs (2005)

This week, we lost one of the greatest creative business leaders of our time with the death of Steve Jobs.  Entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs truly inspire me.  In this economy, most of us aren’t lucky enough to be in jobs that we enjoy. This could not be more true for the young attorneys who have sought document review work on a contract basis just to pay the bills. But are people like me who have spent the better part of the year in temp work settling, against the advice of visionaries like Jobs?

Those who do temporary doc review assignments right out of law school risk future employers turning their noses up at the doc review experience, potentially spending months unemployed between contracts waiting for an opportunity to match availability or eventually finding that document review is so different from the legal career they prepared themselves for in law school that they cannot continue.  So why do so many of us persist in this line of work?

The primary justifications for temporary doc review work are relationships with significant others. Many of us don’t pursue the entry-level legal work available in the collar counties or other states because we have spouses with good jobs here. For us, being close to those people outweighs the opportunity to get litigation experience. Also, many of us are actively pursuing other interests that would not be possible in a traditional legal career. The range of other interests my co-workers have is incredible. Someone is working on getting her CPA license, another is in acting classes, someone is in a band, many have young children and a myriad of others have unique hobbies that would be impossible in the shackles of a law firm of any size.

Nonetheless, Steve Jobs’ point is poignant. If you find yourself bored with your current legal career, whether it be permanent or temporary, try to figure out if you can use this transitional time to find another love. If you can’t it may be time to explore other fields. We are up to the neck in student loan debt; if we will be paying our student loans essentially for the rest of our lives, is there any reason in the world to do something we don’t absolutely love?

 Nick Augustine, J.D., is the principal of Pro Serve Public Relations, a PR firm serving the law and finance industries. Nick advises and assists attorneys in transition based on his experience in law, legal marketing, public relations, and his Secured Solo Practice model. Nick shares career growth strategy and experience with legal job seekers.

Recently I saw another editorial article suggesting law school is a waste of time. Rubbish! There are plenty of clients and cases in our communities. During challenging times, successful professionals adapt to market demands. Forget about the doom and gloom in certain media, whose advertisers are happy when fear tactics are used to attract readership. Most of the bad press you see is a product of groupthink and isn’t based in reality.

People make decisions based on emotion. If 10 people told you not to go to law school because the job outlook was no good, would you be scared to take the plunge? Most people say yes, some even reconsider. The optimist thinks, “Maybe if I don’t get a job in the private sector I can clerk for a judge.” Using logic, consider history. Do you think the need for lawyers has decreased? There are always new and developing practice areas, you just have to pay attention and think out of the box to find the practice areas with available work.

Economies and job markets are cyclical. When I graduated from law school in 2002 the insurance defense jobs were plentiful. It was easy to get a job. Today this is not the case. Tomorrow it will not likely be much better, but who knows where things will be five years from now. Where will you be then? Maybe you take a lower paying associate position now and in five years when you are ready to move up the ladder the markets might be very favorable. The best way to handle the economic fluctuation is to budget and manage your finances, keeping your chin up and nose to the grindstone.

Making the best of a poor economy is easy if you practice optimism. Self-fulfilling prophecies are dangerous in down economies. If you believe there are not jobs you are less likely to work hard to find a position in law. Meanwhile, there are people out there who are so busy they have a hard time understanding how some lawyers cannot find any work. You have to go to the work, aggressively, and with hat in hand sometimes, always believing the next win is just around the corner. Optimistic people tend to create situations that serve their best interests. Engage in optimism.

If you have extra time you should get involved. If you are looking for job offers, referrals and good contacts, then you should get involved in your community. Think about social networking websites – you likely know more people than you think. If you take the time to connect with people in your network then you will have a chance to tell them about you or your firm and the services offered. If the price is right, you might attract work from someone who otherwise might have gone to a legal document company or do it yourself resource. The best way to market yourself in a down economy is to tell many people what you do and engage in dialogue to find out if you can help them or someone they know.

Closing the loop on negative media, consider that in good economies we might hear more about tort reform and the lawyers making very large salaries. How likely is it that the average lawyer is at either end of the spectrum of the economy? Ignore the bad press and keep busy.

Jill Rorem, Esq., is senior manager, legal staffing at Blackman Kallick (www.blackmanstaffing.com). Jill oversees the successful recruitment of attorneys, paralegals and contract legal professionals. Jill (and the Blackman team) staffs document reviews using qualified contract attorneys and thus, works with attorneys-in-transition daily. You can follow her at twitter.com/roremlegalstaff.

I am often asked whether working as a contract attorney is a help or a hindrance to a career as a lawyer. My answer is always the same, I really don’t know. Some of my direct hire clients are, in fact, turned off by document review on a resume. Others would rather see some legal work on a resume than months of doing nothing at all. What I DO know is that in this economy, with loan payments mounting, most people don’t have the luxury to say no to working on a document review.

The real problem with document review for those who are not planning to make document review their career, is that attorneys can easily get too comfortable and become lazy about their job search or even shelve it altogether. Let’s face it, document review brings steady (albeit low paying) work. Document review doesn’t keep you up worrying at night after you leave the office.  When you are working on document review, you don’t have to panic before a motion in front of the judge. It is social and many people wind up with life- long friends after they spend months on a project together. So, it’s easy to see why people get comfortable and forget their intended pursuits.

But there ARE jobs out there and not just for those who lateral in to firms. I have seen it with my own eyes – people have left our document reviews to take full-time, salaried positions on many occasions. It can be done. If document review is not what you intend for your career (for some it is – the above mentioned advantages are very enticing!), please don’t drop the ball on your search. Rather, consider these suggestions on how to keep your job search alive:

• Read the job boards and law firm career pages every day. Something new is bound to pop up that is a fit for your background.

• Network, network, network! Instead of going home after a long day of coding, attend one of the many networking events and conferences that are put on by various legal organizations and charities in the city. Give yourself a twice per month quota. Some are free and some cost money but eventually, it’ll be money well spent. Don’t leave an event without meeting at least three new people and connecting with a few old acquaintances. You never know how these people will be able to help you out and/or connect you to potential job contacts.

• Participate in social media. It’s the most efficient way to network because you can meet a lot of people at once. Polish up your LinkedIn profile and start connecting with others.  Create a Twitter account and follow people who have interesting things to say about the legal field and contact them. Stop poo-pooing Facebook and make some “friends.”  The more people who know you are looking for a new position, the better.

• Stay on people’s radar to be the first considered when their firm or organization is hiring.  Request informational interviews and/or informal coffee meetings with hiring managers, attorneys, friends, friends of friends. Listen to what they have to say about potential needs at their firms and tell them how you might fit in when their need arises.

• Touch up your cover letter. As someone who reads cover letters daily, I recommend giving it personality and humor. Keep the reader from falling asleep at all costs! Give them insight into you beyond what you have already provided in your resume.

It is perfectly fine to decide to work permanently as a document review attorney. Believe me, it would make my life easy if I didn’t keep losing some of my favorite contract attorneys to permanent positions! But if you want to practice in a traditional setting, keep at it. If you are persistent and talented, you’ll land something.