Success

Tips For Etching Out The Right Career For You

Spoiler alert: the key is good mentoring.

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While cruising through various blog sites, I came across a post, originally from 2011 but reposted recently about what we lawyers are. Are we attorneys, counselors, both?

I think we are both, and when we’re in advising mode, rather than in gladiator mode, we are counseling our clients to help them make better decisions. They’re the ones who live with the consequences of whatever decisions (good or bad) they choose to make. Sometimes it’s hard to shake off the attorney mode (“let’s go to the mattresses and fight to the death”), but in most cases, unless it’s a “bet the company” or personal liberty at stake, being a counselor is better than being an attorney. Being able to be help a client resolve issues and problems before they become litigation is much more satisfying from both efficiency and cost-effective metrics. We all want satisfied clients.

One of the aspects of the “counselor” that I don’t think we lawyers spend much, if any, time thinking about, let alone doing, is mentoring. That’s counseling.

Finding a mentor takes work. Not just any attorney will do, although there certainly are enough of us out there. It’s finding the right mentor (not that different from finding the right job, note I say the “right” job, not the “perfect one.”) So while the right mentor may not be the perfect mentor (and remember that perfect is the enemy of good), the right mentor may be good for you in the early stages of your career, in that netherworld between awaiting bar results and starting the job hunt, or having passed the bar and engaged in the full-time working to get work.

It’s not easy being a mentee or a mentor. One concern that mentors have is that lack of focus that some mentees have. Understandably eager to get a job to start paying off the student loan debt, often mentees are looking for a job, any job, to get them into the practice. (And “it’s always easier to get a job when you have one.” Or, at least, it used to be, but in this topsy-turvy world, that old saying may not be so true.) Career mapping, which I’d never heard of before, may help you focus. Even as you advance in your legal career, it’s still nice to have lawyers older (and hopefully) wiser to view as mentors.

Mentees need to educate themselves about the realities of the legal market today and into tomorrow, and think about how what they want to do meshes with what’s available now, and what’s coming down the road. I don’t think any of us can see around corners, at least, not yet, with the possible exception of Jeff Bezos, but there are going to be many opportunities for new lawyers that don’t necessarily fit the traditional definition of “lawyer,” e.g. sitting behind some intimidating desk with an old-fashioned yellow legal pad.

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The broader your interests the easier it will be to find a career in law that is satisfying. Some never, ever want to set foot in a courtroom (which is great, because it makes room for those who do.) Some never, ever want to litigate (e.g. code word for paper shuffling, and all those other pre-trial chores that prompt some to ask “and I went to law school for this?”) Some others only want to do deals.

We dinosaur lawyers grew up in a kind of practice world that is pretty much gone now. We can advise new lawyers about many things not taught in law school, like antiquated twentieth century concepts of civility and professionalism. I think that dinosaur lawyers can and do mentor new lawyers in how to be a lawyer, in ethics, conflicts, client management, etc., having had decades of experience as lawyers and having negotiated all kinds of pitfalls.

If the mentee wants to practice in an area that has been around for forever and always will be, such as family law, probate, estate planning, labor and employment, and criminal law, then that dinosaur lawyer who practices in that area has a wealth of substantive knowledge to share and pass on. It’s a spin on the “learn from my mistakes,” or “do as I suggest, not as I did.”

Depending on how tech savvy older lawyers are, they may (or may not be) the ones to turn to for advice on the myriad tools out there for case management, time keeping and billing, e-discovery vendors, use of AI in practice, and the like.

Unless dinosaur lawyers practice in areas such as cyber security, data security, internet law, and other such new-fangled practices, we’re not the ones to seek out for advice. That mentee needs someone who works in those areas, and that usually means a lawyer of more recent vintage.

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Mentees should be giant sponges, eager to soak up all information that the mentor has to give and is willing to give. Why not have more than one mentor? As we know, all too well, there’s not necessarily just one right way to do anything (that’s why we have work) and so different mentors, especially from different age groups and practice areas, can be very valuable resources for newer lawyers.

Reader emails often ask how to find a mentor. Check with the ABA, your state bar association, your local bar association, attorney and professional networking groups, your law school alumni association. California is not on the ABA list, but it’s so busy de-unifying that I doubt mentoring is going to be high on its “to-do” list any time soon.

There are state bar association websites that have mentoring guides: Illinois, Ohio, and Oregon, are just a few. There’s also the National Legal Mentoring Consortium. 

If you can’t find a mentoring program, start one. Be entrepreneurial early in your career. Don’t be bashful about approaching possible mentors. Most lawyers are happy to help to the extent possible, and if not, then that tells you something about what kind of lawyers they are.

old lady lawyer elderly woman grandmother grandma laptop computerJill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.

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