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Practice Pointers - Managing Expectations
By Natasha Alladina • June 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues
Have you ever had that nightmare where you forgot about a deadline or had two things due at the same time and only managed to finish one? And then you woke up panicked, drenched in sweat, right before the climactic scene in which a partner hurls a series of expletives (and maybe even a stapler) at you? No? Not yet? Well, let’s be sure to keep it that way. One thing they don’t teach you in law school is how to manage expectations when you’re in the real world. That’s more of a “learn as you go and figure it…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Why If You’re Hysterical, It’s Historical
By Paula M Jones • June 22, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
I had been having problems with my email lately. I dreaded calling technical support, since my experience in the past involved sitting for a long time on hold and listening to someone reading from a script instead of thinking creatively about my problem. However, since I could not fix the problem myself and I felt I had no other options, I called my internet service provider’s technical support line. True to form, after thirty minutes on the phone we had barely moved past the point where I had repeated my name and account number to four different people. Then, after…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Academic Excellence Will Only Get You So Far
By Paula M Jones • May 30, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
“You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.” - Thomas Wolfe My friend’s 16-year old daughter loves to cook. She takes the culinary class offered at her school, pores over the glossy photos in cookbooks and makes a mean pineapple chicken. When I asked if she was going to pursue culinary arts in college she sighed and said that she didn’t want to work in the restaurant business. She explained that the hours were terrible and a lot of restaurants fail. My stepson is really good with kids. It is…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Building and Maintaining a Practice with Clients You Love - Webinar
By Paula M Jones • May 17, 2020 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
Editor's Note: Ms. JD 2020 Writer in Residence Paula Jones is offering a free webinar on Tuesday, May 19. Check out the details below! Please join me for this complimentary webinar, enabling you to realize a client base with whom you truly love to work. In this webinar, you'll: · Learn how to network to find clients you love · Learn what to listen for, to identify which clients will work best with you · Figure out if your client values your services – within the first ten minutes of meeting · Learn to heighten your sense of awareness about…
Promo Strategies for Women-Owned Law Firms
By Susan Smith Blakely • May 07, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues
A lot is changing in the law profession today. The legal websites, blogs and periodicals are following all of it, and I have an article coming out soon in the ABA Journal addressing what law firm leaders can learn from coronavirus. I will share a link with you when I have it. Technology has rapidly changed law practice during the isolation we all are experiencing, and there is well-informed speculation that these same technological applications will be just as valuable post COVID-19 as they have been during mandatory working from home. The need for expensive brick and mortar offices will be…
Working at Home During Coronavirus
By Susan Smith Blakely • April 02, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues
I know that you probably have read articles on line recently with advice about working from home in the age of coronavirus. The themes are generally the same. Here is my take on it for young lawyers. I believe that the best way to survive an extended isolation and working from home is to maintain a ROUTINE. Establishing a routine and sticking to it will reap huge rewards when the time comes to go back to brick and mortar places of business. You will have created fewer bad isolation habits. Routine also will help you establish a healthy mental…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: How To Deal with a Perfectionist
By Paula M Jones • March 26, 2020 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Mentoring and Networking, •Other Issues
“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.” – Anne Lamott Have you ever encountered the kind of people who expect the impossible from others? They view anything less than perfection as a failure. They hyper-focus on your mistakes and they never seem to notice all the things that you do right. You, my friend, have encountered a perfectionist. While at first blush this term may seem like a compliment, the reality is that it is not. Perfectionists should really be called “imperfectionists” because they don’t look for the perfection in others - they look for their imperfections. There is a…
How is COVID-19 Affecting the July Bar Exam?
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 25, 2020 •Careers, Other Career Issues
So what about the July Bar Exams amid COVID-19? Here is some information about what is being considered if July Bar Exams cannot go forward for reasons related to coronavirus and COVID-19. You will see there the options being considered. Some are not so good, and others are better. But one may be missing altogether. It seems to me that the option for "emergency diploma privilege-plus" is the best option and could work --- with one caveat. I agree that "diploma privilege" might be a good idea to meet the needs of Spring 2020 law graduates to enter the workforce as…
Everything Nobody Ever Told Me: Is Self-Employment For You?
By Paula M Jones • February 25, 2020 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Other Career Issues
Being a self-employed means you work 12 hours a day for yourself so you don't have to work 8 hours a day for someone else. - Oliver Markus Malloy After twenty years at law firms, I left with my book of business and opened up my own practice. Words really can’t express the sheer happiness I have experienced since then. I bill fewer hours but take home significantly higher compensation. I actually enjoy practicing law again. I am finally able to combine my international practice with my love of travel, resulting in more trips abroad to meet with clients and…