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Back In The Race: What Does It Mean To Work Hard?

What do we talk about when we talk about "hard work"?

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resume girlSoon, a jury will decide whether Thomas Jefferson School of Law fraudulently prepared its post-graduate employment statistics in order to recruit students. Also, the jury will decide whether Anna Alaburda acted reasonably by relying on these statistics.

When the trial made nationwide news, there were a lot of strong comments on internet websites and social media, mostly showing little to no sympathy for Anna (at least publicly). A common topic among many of the commenters was whether Anna worked hard enough. They said that if she worked harder, she could have gone to a higher-ranked school and obtained a real lawyer job.

Because Anna’s work ethic was a hot discussion topic on the interwebz, I am certain this issue will also come up during jury deliberations. And it is very likely that the jury’s opinion of Anna’s work ethic will affect how they decide this case.

So did Anna Alabura not work hard enough? Or did she work hard but was unsuccessful at finding a job regardless? To answer this question, we must first ask what it means to “work hard.” There is no dictionary or consensus definition of what constitutes hard work. Instead, various gurus, life coaches, curmudgeons, and self-improvement seminar salesmen have their own unique views on what constitutes hard work.

Some claim that you work hard if you have the ability to work long hours constantly. Perhaps, but this also means you have the energy and focus to work 12 hour days.

Others say you work hard by giving up having fun in order to work. But this sounds more like sacrifice and delayed gratification. And others call this feeding and raising your family.

Working hard can also mean having the ability to work even when you are doing boring work. While this can be considered hard work, this sounds like being focused and persistent.

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Finally, some people interpret hard work as doing whatever it takes to succeed. These people have no qualms about doing dishonest and even criminal activities to get ahead. Their rationale seems to be that once they have the money, then can go straight. Or they just don’t care.

The problem is that attributes like focus, perseverance, and the willingness to sacrifice are difficult to display to an employer because they assume you already have them. Instead, they tend to focus more on achievements and experience (and focusing less on inner virtues) to determine whether someone worked hard. For example, if your résumé shows that you won a complex litigation case, they assume you must have worked hard to achieve that result.

So with the above being said, did Anna work hard to get to where she is? This issue should be addressed to the jury during closing statements.

Anna Alaburda should argue that she worked hard during law school but it was not enough to overcome TJSL’s questionable employment statistics. She went to NYU, a respected university, and then graduated with honors from TJSL. Even though she went to a low-ranked school, it was a common myth that those who graduated from these schools at the top of their class would be just as competitive in the job market as students from higher-ranked schools.

The defense probably should not dispute that Anna Alaburda didn’t work hard. I think it would make them look disingenuous. Instead, they should argue that she graduated in 2008, during a recession, at a time when even students from top law schools did not get job offers after graduation.

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To me, hard work means doing whatever it takes, as long as it takes to reach a mutual goal to everyone’s benefit, even if it means doing most of the work myself. Doing what others instruct you to do is just work. And that’s fine and honorable. I would like to agree with the cliché that if you work hard, you will succeed. But not too long ago, something changed. Working hard is now less associated with being successful. Nowadays, you have to work hard in order to get by.

Speaking of working hard to get by, I am requesting stories from former solo practitioners and small-firm lawyers who left their practice, for better or for worse. If you are one of them, please share your story so that we (and 0Ls contemplating going to law school) can learn from your experience. Please click here, here and here to get an idea as to what I am looking for. Then email me: sachimalbe@excite.com. Thank you.

Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at sachimalbe@excite.com and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.

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