Intellectual Property

Advice For Young Lawyers: Try To Get '1 Percent Better'

Identifying those younger lawyers who are willing to really live by the demands of a '1 percent better' professional approach requires attention and care.

By  
on

It has been over half a decade since I last wrote about football and my favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles, on these pages. Back in 2014, I extolled the lessons we as lawyers can learn from the NFL’s uncompromising investment in preparation as the key to performance, as well as the fact that lawyers can relate to professional football via “our recognition that the NFL is a meritocracy, just like law practice is.” In that vein, I noted that while fancy pedigrees could get a player or new lawyer off to a head start in each industry, ultimately their staying power would be based on performance. It was true in 2014 and remains true today. Pedigree matters, but only up to a point. And every so often, someone breaks through on the strength of their natural ability and will to improve. It is true of associates, and it is true of football players.

When it comes to law firm associates, we can easily label somebody an underdog when it comes to their career prospects, perhaps by falling back on the lazy thinking of underestimating someone without a top academic pedigree. But when we think of athletic underdogs, men who are 6′ 8″ and 365 lbs. with the agility and strength to excel in both rugby and professional football don’t often come to mind. Yet, when you consider that there are only 32 starting left tackles in the NFL, even physical specimens that approach comic book proportions and capabilities can be aptly considered underdogs.

For those unfamiliar with the position of left tackle in football, a quick primer, unless you have seen the movie “The Blind Side,” in which case this will be a quick review. To succeed, left tackles need the power of a bulldozer and the feet of a ballerina. Since most NFL quarterbacks are right-handed, the left tackle is the main protector of the quarterback’s actual back, which, like most human backs, is not designed for being hit at full speed by a 250-plus lb. defensive end. As a result of their importance, left tackles are among the highest-paid position groups in the NFL, with starts in excess of $10 million per year in salary and bonuses. And because of their scarcity, starting-caliber left tackles are often among the highest players drafted each year, based on the idea that premium tackles are easily identifiable by their physical dominance — and that once selected, a top prospect can anchor the team’s offensive line for a decade. In short, it is a premium position and not one in which underdogs are often found rising to prominence.

That is especially true for aspiring left tackles that are picked in the last round of the NFL draft and are labeled a “developmental prospect” with little chance of even making the team. But every so often, even an underdog gets a chance and capitalizes — and maybe even gets featured in an ESPN profile story.

The player in question, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jordan Mailata, is very much deserving of the attention he is receiving. Because Mailata earned his spot as the Eagles’ starting left tackle as we kick off the 2021 NFL season — as well as a $65 million-plus four-year contract — even though he had to beat out a more highly touted first round pick in the process. How did he do it? Partly by learning to harness his unusual natural physical gifts in the difficult transition from a quick shift from a rugby career to playing American football at the highest level. But also by embracing a mental framework for self-improvement that made the possibility of lasting success achievable — a focus on always getting “1 percent better.” (For a quick sample of Mailata’s handiwork, I submit this absolute devastation of a Falcons defender on one of the Eagles’ touchdowns. I believe the word is “Ouch.”)

Again, Mailata’s rise to prominence was as unlikely as could be, even though he was guided by perhaps the truest building block of self-improvement there is, namely the embrace of consistent, incremental improvement. In fact, Mailata credits his offensive line coach, Jeff Stoutland, with helping him realize the importance of  “coming in every day with the same attitude and the same goal to get 1 percent better.” Which is pretty much the same type of attitude successful IP lawyers need to have in regards to their craft, no matter what stage of their careers they find themselves in. But while Mailata himself may be a poster child for the type of success possible when one embraces the “1 percent better” mantra, we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the importance of the infrastructure around him that helped lead to him beating the odds.

From the scouting staff that took a flyer on drafting him based on his physical measurables, to the coaching staff that was willing to invest in literally teaching him the basics of football, to the team executives who took a patient approach to the entire process of crafting him into a productive player, despite the long odds — Mailata has been the beneficiary of an ideal and supportive professional environment. The challenge for us as lawyers is to recreate those conditions as best as we can for the younger lawyers in our employ and care, so that they too can flourish. As we all know, it can be exceedingly hard to predict whom among a crop of summer associates will eventually make partner. But we as IP lawyers can do our part to give associates with the talent and drive the opportunities they need to give it their best shot.

Sponsored

Ultimately, identifying those younger lawyers who are willing to really live by the demands of a “1 percent better” professional approach requires attention and care. At the same time, we also have to inculcate within ourselves the courage to recognize and reward the rare few that have broken through the imaginary bonds of a less-than-sterling pedigree to succeed at the highest levels. It can be much easier to defer to lazy thinking about what the profile of a top lawyer should be. But even if a deserving associate doesn’t tower over us physically like a Jordan Mailata, if they put in the work and achieve the results that he has, they too should be given the ability to show that they can keep getting “1 percent better.” Because, with the right support, eventually the biggest underdogs can flourish beyond all expectations.

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.

Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’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.

Sponsored

Topics

, ,