First, Biglaw Rejected Him. Now He's A Partner And He Wants To Help Young Lawyers

Spend an inordinate amount of time working on your writing (whether you are an excellent writer or not) and studying your area of the law.

In 2002, Brian Potts, then a law student at Vermont Law School, wrote to Perkins Coie, an Am Law 100 law firm, inquiring about a job. The firm responded by mail politely informing him that no positions were available.

Almost 20 years later, he is now a partner at Perkins Coie’s Madison, Wisconsin, office.

But he kept that rejection letter. Last month, he posted a copy of it on LinkedIn with the classic words, “Law Students: If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.”

His post went viral. It has been viewed more than 3.5 million times and received over 48,000 positive responses. Many people have reached out to him requesting advice, and as a result, he is currently booked out for at least a month speaking with law students and recent graduates.

I reached out to Brian to learn more about his story. Here are his answers to my questions.

So what did you do after getting the rejection letter?

During my second year, I applied to every AmLaw 100 firm (and many AmLaw 200 firms) and got form rejection letters from all of them (including the one from Perkins). I kept them to motivate myself. I also applied to about 15 or 20 firms in the Kentucky area (where I’m from), and the only summer associate job I was offered was at the firm where my step-grandfather was a partner in Lexington, Kentucky.

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I did very well during my summer associate gig, and they made me an offer. I then reapplied to dozens of top firms with an offer in hand and ended up getting an interview with only one firm but not an offer (it was not an AmLaw firm, but a great environmental boutique in D.C.).  So, I went to Kentucky after law school to begin my career.

A year in, I decided to go to Berkeley to get an LL.M — mostly as a way to get Berkeley’s name on my resume. During my year at Berkeley, I published an article in the Harvard Environmental Law Review (which was a huge deal — at least to me). I also got all As.

Even with Berkeley and the publication on my resume, when I reapplied to all of the top AmLaw firms in Chicago and Madison, I again got form rejection letters from all of them except from Baker MacKenzie in Chicago. I ended up interviewing at Baker but didn’t get an offer. I did, however, land an associate offer from a well-respected midlevel firm in Madison, which is where my wife is from. So, we moved to Madison.

When did you start getting attention from a major law firm?

A year later, a recruiter working for Foley & Lardner called me about an associate position in their Madison office. Although I was happy where I was, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. They were looking for a midlevel environmental associate with three to five years of experience. I was then a third-year so I perfectly fit the bill. And I “clicked” with the partners at Foley who I interviewed with.

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So how did you like it at Foley?

I liked it. I ended up doing incredibly well at Foley; I made partner in the shortest time period possible at age 32.

How did you make partner in such a short period of time?

Hard work and luck. I met my hours requirements every year; and I treated the partners like I would treat my clients. Basically, I did whatever needed to be done to make the partners’ lives easier. And because the partners trusted me, I started to get a lot of client interaction. Eventually clients started to notice and appreciate my work. But there’s no doubt that I was also a bit lucky on the business development front. I made friends in town who trusted me, and some of them ended up in jobs where they could refer business to me.

When you transferred to an AmLaw 100 firm, were there any differences in the office culture and expectations from you?

Honestly, the biggest difference was in the dollar value of the matters I got to work on. The hours requirements and day-to-day expectations were pretty similar.

Describe your transition to Perkins Coie. 

I lateraled to Perkins three and a half years ago because of a client conflict. It was nerve racking. But all of my major clients came with me. Things are going extremely well in my practice now. Our group in Madison has grown from three to six attorneys (and we have a new associate joining this fall). I was also recently made co-chair of the firm’s Energy Industry Group.

During your career, what do you think helped you to get noticed?

I’ve tried to distinguish myself since law school by writing legal articles and op-eds. I also now teach a class on Renewable Energy Development & Project Finance at my alma mater, Vermont Law School. And I’ve founded two startup companies, including inventing the LegalBoard, the first and only keyboard for lawyers (which Above The Law has covered extensively).

There are many law students and young lawyers who want to emulate your accomplishment. What steps should they take now and later to maximize their chances of being hired?  

Spend an inordinate amount of time working on your writing (whether you are an excellent writer or not) and studying your area of the law. Work hard. And don’t panic if you haven’t landed your dream job yet. It may be hard to imagine now — but you will be your most marketable three to five years after starting to practice law. So, bide your time.

Also, email me. I recently asked for mentoring help on LinkedIn (since I’ve been inundated with requests for advice). More than 70 accomplished lawyers have already contacted me with offers to help. Together we are starting the LinkedIn Legal Mentor Network. Law students and recent grads can just email me, and I’ll refer them to a few contacts who have aligning interests from the network.

I want to thank Brian Potts for his time and for his offering to help young lawyers at a very difficult time. If you have a unique success story you want to share, please reach out to me.


Steven Chung is a tax attorney in Los Angeles, California. He helps people with basic tax planning and resolve tax disputes. He is also sympathetic to people with large student loans. He can be reached via email at sachimalbe@excite.com. Or you can connect with him on Twitter (@stevenchung) and connect with him on LinkedIn.