Small Law Firms

Some Lawyers Celebrate Underwhelming Career Milestones

Many lawyer awards are more about the size of the lawyer's ego than the size of the accomplishment.

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459989I do not check LinkedIn too much these days. Although I used to think that LinkedIn was a solid way to develop new business, more often than not, LinkedIn is mostly a means for people to spam my inbox and post career accomplishments for the affirmation of people users might not even know. One interesting phenomenon I often see on LinkedIn is that numerous lawyers post about purported accomplishments that do not require any kind of recognition or skill, seemingly in order to generate content for people to see and like on the platform. I understand the need for people to generate content on such platforms as LinkedIn to get noticed, but I’m not sure why users announce certain underwhelming career updates.

One supposed career accomplishment I see lawyers post all the time is when they are admitted to a new state or federal bar. Of course, it makes sense for lawyers to want to advertise to others that they are now licensed to practice law in a new jurisdiction in case contacts have referrals in that state. However, some lawyers seem to suggest that becoming admitted to a new bar requires some kind of recognition or skill. Indeed, I often see people posting about how proud they are to be admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States even though the requirements to have this status are relatively minimal. If attorneys need to pass the bar exam again to be admitted to a new state bar, I think that the admission is an accomplishment since it is genuinely difficult for someone to take time out of their career to study and pass a bar exam.

However, most states and federal bars have reciprocity that allows lawyers admitted in other jurisdictions to gain reciprocal admission in the desired area. All the lawyer must do is fill out the necessary paperwork, pay related fees, and not run into character and fitness problems. Meeting this low threshold is not much of an accomplishment. Sure, it can be a pain to assemble all of the certificates of good standing, reference letters, and other accompanying documents to apply for such admission. However, pretty much any lawyer can submit such paperwork to be admitted in a different jurisdiction, so lawyers should not post about reciprocal admission as if it is a big accomplishment.

Lawyers also post incessantly about chintzy awards that they were given and how the award proves that they are at the top of their fields and have achieved lofty accomplishments. Regrettably, many lawyer achievement awards are not something to celebrate. Pretty much any lawyer can usually either apply or pay to be granted such awards, and most of these awards do not come with a rigorous selection methodology.

Companies make money selling plaques and other hardware showcasing that the lawyer has won a supposedly prestigious award, and ad space is sold in publications that print the names of people given the award. The lawyer awards industry serves the egos of lawyers, and makes the public think that lawyers are accomplished, when in reality most lawyer awards are not a reflection of the lawyer’s skill, but perhaps on the size of the lawyers ego. Some lawyer awards are true accomplishments, but these are far outweighed by the superficial awards that people often post about on LinkedIn and elsewhere.

It is difficult for lawyers to distinguish themselves in the legal marketplace, and they may struggle sometimes to produce content for social media in order to get their names in front of more people. However, lawyers should consider highlighting genuine victories and accomplishments rather than posting about hollow career milestones.

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Rothman Larger HeadshotJordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at [email protected].

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