eDiscovery, Litigators, Technology

6 Lessons About Lawyering -- And Life

Take them no matter what stage of your career you are in, and put them to good use.

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businesswoman woman lawyer mentor counseling adviceSince I started this column several weeks ago, many lawyers have reached out to me asking for advice. Some are looking to learn more about electronic discovery, some to transition from practicing into project management, and some just to find out what direction they should be taking from where they are.

I love talking to and teaching lawyers. But let’s be honest, the practice of law is a business that is constrained by the inability of lawyers to build a business. The practice of law has changed dramatically in the 20 years since I started my career. It’s gotten much harder.

I can recall asking my mentor — who was widely regarded as the state’s best commercial litigator — whether he would go to law school now (this was about 10 years ago). He looked at me point blank and immediately gave an unequivocal “no.” And this was a guy who had loved practicing law for more than 30 years, and he was damn good at it.

I remember that moment very clearly. By that time, out of a bit of sheer luck, I had started our firm’s ediscovery practice, and had a plan for where I wanted my career to go. But if I could go back, there are some things I would do better and earlier.

During my career in law school and beyond, I’ve worked in-house for a large insurance company, clerked for a federal judge, managed a domestic violence courtroom as a prosecutor, worked my way up to partner in the commercial litigation group of an Am Law 200 law firm, and started my own firm. I’ve gone up against and with the best in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, managed bet the company litigation for some of the most household names you know, and have a practice and a life that I love in a place that I love.

So, to all of you lawyers, regardless of age, I share with you my best pieces of advice for lawyering, building your reputation, and generally surviving. These are the things I wish I knew when I started practicing. Take them no matter what stage of your career you are in, and put them to good use. (In this post, I’ll offer six tips; additional advice will follow in a future post.)

1. You Control Your Destiny. No one else. If you are waiting for your firm’s marketing department, practice group leader or anyone else to help you build a reputation or hoping that it will just “come,” you are wrong. You have to get out there and get your name out. The name of the game is SEO and whether people equate you with the type of work you want to do. It takes YEARS, and you need to start TODAY. Ask yourself what is it that you want? It sounds trite, but ask yourself where you want to be in five years and what you want that to look like.

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How do you do that? Write an article, speak on a topic, start a blog — choose whatever fits the way the people you want to reach like to take in content. Content marketing is king, and you are its scribe. Every publication wants good quality articles and tons of folks want guest bloggers. Here’s the catch — You have to ask.

If you are in your first year of practice or the head of your practice group, you learned something in the last day, week, month or year that people need to know about. And if you didn’t, go out and learn something, and then tell people about it. Go to the CLEs and learn tips — talk at your firm’s litigation lunch. Get known in your firm and outside. Both are important. Don’t assume that what you know is basic and won’t help others.

When you get that opportunity, have a mechanism for getting it out to your clients or your relationships. Don’t assume that everyone will see it. You need to make SURE they see it if you want them too. Ask for article reprints, post a link on your blog, whatever method works best. Do it thoughtfully. It’s a balance of being out there and having people know what you do.

2. Make a Plan. When I was a new litigator, I was told over and over (and over) for the first six years of my practice to “be a generalist” in litigation, that specializing was too limiting. Around year five, after blindly following that philosophy, I realized that the litigation world was becoming much more specialized (sorry, ABA, but it’s really ridiculous to not let us say we specialize in an area), and I sought out the types of cases I wanted. I worked on complex engineering design litigation (which I still love), and dived head first into ediscovery and built our firm’s practice there before taking off to start my own firm and focus my practice in ediscovery.

3. Evaluate Every Opportunity. Notice I didn’t say Seize Every Opportunity. That’s because lawyering sucks up all of your time, and you need to make strategic decisions. Ask whether the opportunity advances your goals — whatever they may be. And you’ll have different goals for different things you do — it could be being the expert, building relationships, getting your name out, doing a favor for a friend planning an event. All of those are laudable goals. But know the goal and evaluate whether it’s a good use of your time. Think about how much time it will take to prepare for it to do a fantastic job. Early in your career, I recommend you take as many opportunities as you can get. Public speaking is crucial.

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4. Allow For Plan Changes. Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” (Steinbeck borrowed it for Of Mice and Men.) Don’t worry about change, embrace it. It really is true that when a door closes, a window opens. You have to see the window and be willing to climb through it.

5. Do A Fantastic Job. Not a good job, a FANTASTIC job. Be the smartest person in the room. Solve the problems. Have practical solutions. Think about what the client needs and do it before they ask. Instead of focusing just on the litigation or the deal, focus on what the client wants out of it. Be a partner to the client, and help them. Don’t just churn out hours. They will remember you.

6. Communicate With The Client. If you’re allowed to, that is. I’m still amazed at how few young lawyers are actually allowed to talk to the client. I had the opposite experience in my litigation career — I was probably talking to clients before I had any idea what to say — but I LEARNED from it. When you are calling the client, have a plan for the conversation. Think of every call as another building block to your relationship. Don’t be afraid to say you are sorry, or to tell them something is taking longer than planned.

Be in regular contact. Even if just to say you wanted to touch base. Send holiday cards, and be thoughtful about gifts if you send them. If someone has kids, send something either just for the client, or that they can share with their family. Learn whether the client has a gift policy. if you don’t know, ask. Tell him or her you wanted to send a gift to say thank you for the work this year, and you wanted to be aware of any policy the company has regarding gifts. Some do, some don’t, but you don’t want your fabulous gift to be confiscated because it runs afoul of the policy. Donating to a charity in a client’s name is nice too.

These are my first six tips. Take them, toss them, do as you please. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know other tips you have to share with lawyers, and I’ll consider them for use in the follow-up post.

Kelly TwiggerKelly Twigger gave up the golden handcuffs of her Biglaw partnership to start ESI Attorneys, an eDiscovery and information law Firm, in 2009. She is passionate about teaching lawyers and legal professionals how to think about and use ESI to win, and does so regularly for her clients. The Wisconsin State Bar named Kelly a Legal Innovator in 2014 for her development of eDiscovery Assistant— an online eDiscovery playbook for lawyers and legal professionals. When she’s not thinking, writing or talking about ESI, Kelly is wandering in the mountains of Colorado, or watching Kentucky basketball. You can reach her by email at Kelly@ediscoveryassistant.com or on Twitter: @kellytwigger.

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