Books, Celebrities, Media and Journalism

7 Fantastic Excerpts From Former Biglaw Attorney Megyn Kelly's Autobiography, 'Settle For More'

One cannot help but respect Megyn Kelly's journey and career progression.

By  
on
Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly

“My hands is questioning if I’m Bach or not / If I’m 2Pac or nonexistent to these juggernauts / But I’m an architect, an astronaut, an Argonaut.”
— Chance the Rapper

On Wednesday, National Public Radio’s Terry Gross interviewed Megyn Kelly about her career, life, and autobiography, Settle for More. They covered several issues she is currently dealing with, including the alt-right’s attack through posting fake one-star reviews of her book on Amazon. As someone who has been trolled, had their identity impersonated, and attacked on various platforms by members who use the alt-right comment boards, I was particularly interested in Kelly’s story and response to them.

This week, I had the opportunity to review her book. It was an illuminating first-person perspective on her career progression from law student to the desk anchor of her own news program, The Kelly File. Here are my favorite stories about her career that she covers in her autobiography:

  1. While a sophomore in high school, Kelly participated in a written aptitude test, which revealed she should be a journalist. After doing a two-day internship with the Albany Times-Union and taking a journalism course in high school, she had her sights set on the famous Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse, but was turned down. She enrolled in the Maxwell School of Political Science at Syracuse instead. She thought she would eventually transfer to Newhouse, but she never did. It turns out journalism school isn’t necessarily a prerequisite to becoming a journalist. Here, she had a little chance to gloat:

At a recent event, I sat next to Steven O. Newhouse of Conde Nast. I teased him about how the school named after his grandfather had turned me down. ‘I read that someplace,’ Steve said, ‘and I called up an administrator at Syracuse and asked, ‘How did that happen?’

‘That’s all I ever wanted to hear!’ I told him. Vindication is sweet.

  1. Because of her Irish and Catholic background, Kelly was particularly interested in Notre Dame for law school, but was turned down. She ended up attending Albany Law School, which was close to her home, and loved her experience. Kelly didn’t grade-on (top 10%) Albany’s Law Review, so she had to write-on to it. Writing on to Law Review meant a great deal to her. As Kelly states:

Sponsored

The significance of that moment cannot be overstated. In fact, one could argue that my entire future depended on the strength of the article I submitted for the write-on competition. Without that feather in my cap, I almost certainly would not have caught the eye of my eventual law firm [fka Bickel & Brewer], which only accepted one or two students from my class in a very competitive process.

I came away feeling empowered: I am in charge of changing my life, and hard work matters. I didn’t need money, or connections to power, or the natural advantages some of my classmates had. Through sheer force of will, I could get myself where I wanted to go.

  1. As important as Law Review was to Kelly, her moot court experiences may be even more cherished. Her team earned second place in the law school’s main competition and she won Best Individual Advocate, scoring the highest marks ever received in the competition. But she “never got too drunk on her own wine.” One of her favorite pieces of advice about remaining humble comes from a past Albany Law Professor, Ken Melilli (Yale and NYU Law grad, and former federal prosecutor):

One day [Professor] Melilli said to our first-year class, ‘Look, for those of you sitting here feeling bad about yourself because you’re in danger of failing out, don’t beat yourself up too badly. Just remember, you’re still in law school — something thousands of others wanted but were denied. And for those of you at the top of your class, feeling great about yourselves and thinking, I’ve got it made, just remember: You’re still at Albany.’

That’s pretty profound if you think about it. However low you are, there is always something to feel proud of, and however high you are, there is always something to humble you. I hold on to that to this day. My mother is only too happy to help.

  1. Kelly didn’t receive an offer from the law firm where she clerked her second summer of law school due to the firm’s budget issues. So in the fall of her 3L year, she flew out to Dallas to interview with Bickel & Brewer [now known as Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors] and secured an offer for their Chicago office. Her explanation of the firm is hilarious:

The term ‘Rambo litigation’ was coined here. They took no prisoners. You hired them when you wanted to fight. At twenty-tree years old, I loved that. Kill or be killed! We’re not here to make friends, we’re here to win! You sue my client? F— you and your request for an extension! You want a settlement conference? Pound sand! Our offer is screw you!

Looking back, this feels a little silly, but as a young gun it sounded very sexy to me.

Sponsored

  1. After a couple years at Bickel & Brewer in Chicago, Kelly was ready for a new firm and city. But after hiring a headhunter who yielded zero offers and getting no offers otherwise, she went back to square one. As she notes:

I had a law school professor who had worked at the prestigious international law firm Jones Day, and I called him and asked him if he would forward my resume to the hiring partner. He did so, and within a week I was walking through Jones Day’s New York office….

As it turned out, they made me an offer, and so did two other Big Law firms. I couldn’t believe it. I went from ‘Why don’t you try begging?’ to three great offers, none of which would have happened if I hadn’t taken a risk and called my law school professor about forwarding my resume to Jones Day.

  1. At Jones Day, Kelly billed 3,000 hours a year. She was on partnership track. Everything might have seemed perfect, but she wasn’t happy:

I had been working myself into a frenzy, billing more than 3,000 hours a year. The better you are as a lawyer, the more work gets loaded on you as a ‘reward.’ As they say, working in law is like a pie-eating contest in which the prize is more pie. Which is about when I realized: just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it makes you happy.

  1. When she found herself unhappy and in existential crisis mode, she would often turn to television. Some of her favorite TV-therapy sessions were reruns of Oprah:

I would watch [Oprah] talk about living our best lives. It was almost as if her words were coming to me from another planet, so little did my frantic, empty life resemble the considered one she described. She spoke about how we are all one decision away from our lives. Then one night her guest, Dr. Phil, said something that made me drop my fork: ‘The only difference between you and someone you envy is, you settled for less.’

Kelly’s book is filled with her personal philosophy and insightful anecdotes for success. After reading her autobiography, whether one agrees with her political views or not, one cannot help but respect her journey and career progression. Throughout her life, she has faced some tremendous tragedies and has not only survived, she has thrived. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in life lessons about resilience, determination, and the law.

Settle for More [Amazon (affiliate link)]

Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Topics

, , , , , , , , , , ,