The Power of Storytelling in Your Legal Practice

[Ed. Note: Paramjit Mahli, of the Sun Communications Group, and author of this article, is a former journalist who has worked with international news organizations including CNN Business News, and now helps small to mid-sized law firms get in front of their target markets effectively, efficiently, and expeditiously. Her job is to let the lawyers do what they do best – practice law – while she takes care of all their public relations.]

How do attorneys connect with their audience without losing themselves in legal-speak? The art of story telling can help lawyers communicate in a way that is captivating and easily understood.

During February’s Super Bowl, sports buffs, approximately 97 million according to news reports, witnessed not just a great game but also a great story. The New York Giants were the underdogs, while the New England Patriots were favored to win. The underdogs won! The story, essentially of the underdogs winning, connected and resonated with millions of viewers and supporters. The game had drama, tension, conflict, beginning, middle and end. In sum, all the ingredients of a great story!

Storytelling is as old as civilization itself, and part of the collective human consciousness. Its roots can be traced back to the days of the shaman sitting around the fire. The shaman’s primary responsibility was to document the history of the tribe: its beliefs, values and tales of great heroes, including their triumphs and tragedies. Part of this responsibility included passing on the wisdom of these stories to new generations so that they could learn, be inspired and be motivated.

Explore Your Options, Be Happy

I love my job. I feel extremely lucky to be able to do the kind of work that I do, and to be able to say (with complete honesty) that I wake up every day excited to get to work. Although I am still new at it, my colleague tells me that it continues to never get old, even after a decade or so. I am primarily an immigration attorney with the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. I get to represent unaccompanied immigrant children, victims of human trafficking, asylum seekers, victims of violent crime, and abandoned, abused, neglected and battered immigrant women and children. The direct service portion of my job is the most rewarding, as well as the most challenging in every way possible.

My job is a hybrid one and involves several other aspects in addition to direct representation. When not fighting with the Department of Homeland Security, I do state and national legislative advocacy, academic writing, education (I teach a course at the law school on Asylum and refugee law and supervise law students who do their mandatory pro bono hours by working at the Center), outreach, and training (i.e. we are currently training our state's department of children and families on how to best identify and care for child victims of human trafficking).

The best advice I could give someone still in law school is to really explore your options. Take classes or participate in clinics or externships outside your comfort zone. However, if you REALLY know what you want to do, then go for it with everything you have. Do not take a job at a big law firm because it is being offered to you if you have already worked there over a summer and know you don't want to spend your days there. Life is short, but it feels like an eternity if you are unhappy with your job.

Wendi Adelson serves as program director for the Human Rights and Immigration Law Project at the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University. Prior to joining FSU's faculty in 2007, Ms. Adelson was a Clinical Fellow and lecturer in clinical education and immigration and a staff attorney in the University of Miami School of Law's Children and Youth Law and Community Health Rights Education Clinics. Her work has focused on the intersections between immigration law and child advocacy. She has written an exhaustive manual that instructs lawyers, judges and immigration and child advocates on the Special Immigration Juvenile Visa.

Ms. Adelson is a Harry S. Truman Scholar, chosen for her dedication to work in public service. She is a former Junior Fellow, focusing on migration policy, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Adelson holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Ms. Adelson is a lawyer and member in good standing of The Florida Bar. She received her undergraduate degree from Brandeis University , where she received a Gilbert scholarship, graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and received her law degree, cum laude, from University of Miami School of Law where she was a Reid Scholar.