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Beyond Biglaw: Cooking Up Career Insights

Three pieces of career advice from chef David Chang that apply to lawyers.

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Beyond BiglawThere is an entire industry built on giving lawyers advice on all aspects of legal practice. Some, even most, of that advice can be useful to at least consider. But I generally find it more interesting to listen to successful people from other industries, especially when they share lessons they learned on their path to path to success. It is always interesting to digest their comments and see if there’s anything that would be applicable to succeeding in the practice of law.

The most recent example of worthwhile career advice I have encountered actually came from someone in the category of “celebrity chef.” Even though I’m kosher and have never tried his food, I am familiar with the chef and restaurateur David Chang, which is a bit of a testament to his celebrity status. Even without actually eating his food, I’m sure he is a wonderful chef based on the success of his many restaurants. Maybe even one day he will do a special kosher tasting event so I can see what makes his restaurants so popular. In any event, I recently heard a very interesting podcast where Chef Chang discussed various aspects of his successful business approach with Bill Simmons. A link to that podcast is available here. It is well worth a listen.

The podcast itself is a bit profanity-laced, but full of interesting observations by someone who has succeeded beyond all expectations in a brutal business. Other than the degree of difficulty attached to success in both the restaurant and law firm worlds, there were definitely a number of observations made by Chef Chang that I think are applicable to lawyers and worthy of further discussion.

First, he drew an interesting contrast between creativity in the kitchen, in terms of ability to experiment with new dishes and flavors, versus creativity in a profession like law. His point was that chefs often peak creatively while they are still young, perhaps before even 30 years old. That is because many chefs, with or without formal training, often already have the technical skills necessary for success at a young age. In contrast, practitioners in professions that require skill development and experience to foster creativity — such as the law — often peak creatively much later in a career. So while chefs may need to showcase their creativity early in a career to get noticed, lawyers have the luxury of using their early professional days to develop their skills.

This observation rang very true to me, especially when I consider my formative experiences as a Biglaw associate. As with many other young associates at law firms, there really was not much opportunity for creativity in Biglaw. The focus was on struggling to excel in an unfamiliar and competitive business setting. Generally, young associates who need to simultaneously bill hours and develop basic practice skills as lawyers really do not have much time for creativity. Nor is creative thinking encouraged by many law firms. That is not to say that a young associate can’t come up with a creative argument or a worthwhile suggestion for improving legal practice. They can, though most lawyers peak creatively much later in their careers, once they have both the technical skills and experience necessary to take creative risks in their practices.

David Chang (by David Shankbone via Wikimedia)

David Chang (by David Shankbone via Wikimedia)

The next observation of interest made by Chef Chang was his description of his changing role. He noted his progression from someone whose only job was to cook to his current role, which centers on making sure his various teams are organized and executing his vision. This rang true with me as a fellow small business owner. Even in a partnership, lawyers are often called upon to do a lot of organizing, whether it be of junior lawyers on their matters, or regarding firm administrative matters. It may not be always fun or glamorous, but reaching that stage in one’s career is also a sign of maturity and (hopefully) success.

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Implicit in Chef Chang’s comments, however, was a recognition that while exhibiting passion about your chosen field may be easy while things are fresh and you are younger, doing so as a senior manager may be more challenging. ‎Yes, reviewing bills or making sure insurance policies are renewed is not as much fun as crafting an outline for your first deposition. But in order for a firm to flourish, the senior lawyers have to have the same passion about making the firm a great place for colleagues and clients to work with as they had as younger lawyers. Success breeds additional responsibility, and lawyers need to rise to that challenge, even as they juggle legal and administrative roles.

Finally, and perhaps surprisingly, Chef Chang discussed the physical demands of his profession, and how important it was to maintain a level of fitness in order to meet those demands. He noted how his ability to perform at a high level in the kitchen has changed as he ages, and how maintaining physical fitness becomes more important for him as a result. This commentary brought to mind an observation from one of my mentors, who pointed out to me one day how all the lawyers in the room were either fit or looked terribly overweight or aged beyond their actual years. Yes, law is a demanding profession, and there often is not enough time to maintain optimal physical health. But having the awareness that physical fitness is something that can’t be ignored is important as well. Most lawyers spend a lot of time worrying about and attending to the needs of others. Part of being able to do so effectively requires making sure that we are in reasonable physical and mental shape to respond to the demands of our profession.

Ultimately, successful people who are willing to share their observations with others are often worth listening to. While Chef Chang may have mentioned lawyers only once in passing during the podcast, there are some very salient points he made that are of interest to our profession, especially to those who want to reach the same heights as lawyers as he has as a chef and restaurateur. More than anything, his insights are a reminder that maintaining success is just as big a challenge as achieving it in the first place.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

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Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique. The firm’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.

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