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The Role Client Company Culture Plays in Your Legal Practice
By Jenny Patten • March 29, 2019 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Other Career Issues
Over the next few months, my column will explore the role that company culture plays in a successful legal practice. I know…culture. Before your eyes glaze over, though, hear me out. An entire body of literature and best practices exist on the powerful role culture can play in business. Here, we’ll focus on exactly what company culture can mean to you, as counsel, and how focusing on this aspect of your company or client organizations can reap great benefits for your practice. Chances are, if you are in-house, you may have come across your company’s mission, vision and values, or a quixotic set of…
The College Admissions Scandal and the Importance of Values to All Young Lawyers
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 22, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
The current college admissions scandal. How awful. Not that we did not suspect lack of fair play in college admissions. We all are aware of the legacy preferences and how the issues of societal inequities play out in this setting, but the magnitude of the alleged criminal behavior and its impact on applicants nationwide is nothing short of disgusting --- and very predictable. It was only a matter of time before the misplaced motives of helicopter parents reached such a low. Coincidentally, my new book addresses the erosion of values in the legal profession, specifically the current toxic cultures of…
Choosing a law school: Four factors that matter, besides the U.S. News rankings
By Jen Reise • March 13, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Law School, Pre-Law
With the 2020 U.S. News rankings of law schools finally out, there’s a lot of discussion about the winners and losers this year. But as an individual applying to law school, rankings don’t tell the whole story. Here are four factors to consider in order to identify what the best law school is – not in general, but specifically for you. Location You’ll make important connections in law school, and most will be in the surrounding legal market. You’ll clerk at a local firm, network with local attorneys, and learn about the business and legal landscape of that community. In…
Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks: Practical Advice for New Lawyers
By Grover E. Cleveland • March 01, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
Q: I am a mid-level associate. I know I should be doing business development. But it is hard to know what activities will be the most effective. Any suggestions on what I should do? A: Because the results from business development are not immediate, finding the most effective approaches can take trial and error. But you are probably already doing many activities that are important for business development. Here are some considerations for allocating your time. Hone your legal skills. To develop business, you have to be able to provide value and solve client problems. This means you need to…
Young Women Lawyers: Help in Transitioning to a New Firm
By Susan Smith Blakely • February 20, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
The legal field is very dynamic these days and has been that way for awhile. Most lawyers change practice venues multiple times in their careers, and research shows that millennials will change jobs four times in their first decade out of college. Up until the 1990's, lawyers often stayed with one -- or possibly two -- firms most of their careers. Sounds hard to believe now, but it's true. However, the boom economic days of the 90's saw law firms grow in size and spheres of influence exponentially, and lawyers started moving around like bees in a hive…
Women Lawyers Need Men to “Step Up” Like They Did
By Susan Smith Blakely • February 10, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
It was reported in the NY Times and other news outlets recently that male managers are afraid of mentoring women in the #METOO Era. Maybe you read about it. Or maybe you were watching the discussion between Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC and her guests last week about those reports. I was watching, and it was incredible. If you did not catch it, check it out here. Or maybe you were at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January and heard the buzz about it there. Apparently lots of males from around the world were sharing their fears. I have…
Should You Specialize in Mass Tort Law?
By Anonymous • February 05, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
Mass tort law is booming, and a lot of attorneys are starting to add mass tort claims into their personal injury firms. Mass tort can impact 2 – 4 million people annually, and these impacts can be serious or fatal. The rise in mass tort comes at a time when there are product liability cases against medical device and pharmaceutical companies. The attractive aspect of mass tort is that it’s still in an immature phase. Clients can be found once, and when the case is large enough, it will result in possibly hundreds or thousands joining a claim. The settlements…
Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks: Practical Advice for New Lawyers
By Grover E. Cleveland • February 01, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
Q: I dread looking at my phone in the morning. Every day I am inundated with emails, usually from offices in an earlier time zone. The emails often contain random requests that don’t seem as if they would take much time, but they end up blowing up my mornings. Sometimes partners want me to find documents for them. Or people want status updates. I am a morning person, and I theoretically could do my best work in the morning, but I end up chasing down information. I try to get up earlier and earlier, but I can only get up…
Diversity in Big Law—- An Ultimatum from Corporate America
By Susan Smith Blakely • January 31, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
A very large group of general counsels (170 to be exact) posted a letter and signatures on a LinkedIn group page this week in support of diversity of women and minorities in law firms. The letter was a direct result of discussion after the Paul Wise law firm announced a new class of partners in December, complete with photos of them all. That would be all white males and one white female. The reaction to the lack of diversity was harsh throughout the profession and in the media, and the LinkedIn effort soon was launched by Michelle Fang, chief legal officer of…