I constantly study successful attorneys. I’m always fascinated by what separates those attorneys who make it to the top and those who do not. I’ve come to believe that what determines how far you go in your career as an attorney comes down to your habits. Here are three habits I’ve observed that the most successful attorneys possess:
The first habit they have is that they compete with themselves rather than against fellow attorneys. Law is one of the most competitive fields. Cutthroat competition is all around us. Beginning in law school, we are competing with our fellow classmates. Then, when we graduate law school, we are competing with fellow attorneys for jobs, cases, promotions, and everything else. But those attorneys who truly excel focus intently on only competing with themselves rather than against others. That is because they stay in their own lane, they keep their head down, and they focus intently on personally getting just a little bit better each day. Over time, they generally surpass many attorneys who spend far too much of their valuable time and energy trying to compete with other attorneys. This mindset shift is critical for achieving great success as an attorney.
For years, I was always trying to compete with other personal injury attorneys. That led to lots of dissatisfaction and stalled growth. But once I focused on only competing with myself—rather than against other attorneys—I became a much happier and more successful attorney.
Second, the most successful attorneys are knowledge-seekers who are constantly curious and always seeking to learn new things. Never set in their ways, they seek to always stay ahead, and so they continuously sharpen their ax by reading lots of books, attending seminars, going to conferences, receiving coaching, joining masterminds, and more. Attorneys who never stop learning are the ones who never stop growing. Your level of success as an attorney is directly proportionate to the extent to which you continuously acquire new knowledge.
For many years, I failed to understand this. I became stuck in my ways of doing things, and I failed to evolve. After I shifted to going out and seeking more knowledge on how to grow myself—and my law firm—my career accelerated.
Finally, the most successful attorneys are the ones who are the most generous. They constantly give and share their time and expertise with no expectation of receiving anything in return. They believe there are more than enough cases to go around for all of us, so they give and share their knowledge and expertise to help elevate fellow attorneys. They seek to give rather than take. This, in turn, actually helps them because they become a magnet for opportunities. I believe the more you give to and help fellow attorneys, the more success will come to you in this field. The universe always rewards generosity.
For a long time, I never shared things that were working for me in my firm. I viewed everything as a zero-sum game. Now, I constantly share—on-stage, during CLEs, or in this very column—exactly how I’ve grown and scaled my personal injury law firm from scratch. Ironically, the more I do this, the more my career continues to grow.
There are, of course, numerous other habits that will bring you high levels of success as an attorney. But I believe these three are the most impactful for real, tangible results in one’s career. If you have other thoughts on what is needed to succeed in our wonderful yet challenging profession, please email me at [email protected] because I would love to hear from you.
