Prior to attending law school, I had some pretty diverse jobs including fundraising for a political action committee, answering phones at a brokerage firm, and as a booker at a modeling agency. I originally planned on attending law school to increase my chances that I could work in a Hollywood talent agency mailroom (the first stop in ultimately becoming a Hollywood agent). Despite getting an offer at a top talent agency after graduation, I took a job in the Washington Attorney General’s Office after I won my school’s moot court competition and decided I wanted to become an appellate lawyer. Since then, I’ve worked in firms with an appellate focus in New York, Portland, and Los Angeles.
I served as a delegate for the New York State Bar Association to the ABA Young Lawyers Division Assembly and then held several liaison positions with the YLD including to the American Law Institute. I wanted to get more involved in the “Big ABA” but did not have firm support to attend many meetings leading me to apply to the TIPS NOW! Scholarship. This was a game-changer for me as it not only provided financial assistance to attend meetings but resulted in my appointment to several general and standing committees where I was able to make an immediate impact.
The ABA is an invaluable resource for new lawyers for networking for that next job or their first client. I have made lifelong friends and landed some of my best clients as a result of my involvement in the ABA. More importantly though, the ABA is where new lawyers can help shape policy with respect to everything from the regulation of the practice of law to substantive issues involving just about every area of law. Some of my first and best experiences in the ABA involved debating whether an amicus brief should be filed in an important US Supreme Court case on behalf of the ABA. This was not an issue that would normally land on my desk as a new lawyer without my involvement in the ABA.
I approached partners that I was not formally assigned to support if they were working in an area of law or on a particular case that I was interested in. This allowed me to really sample different types of law and helped lead me to the areas that have been a particular focus in my career. Early in my career I approached a partner that specialized in insurance coverage disputes. He assigned me to work on insurance coverage issues that arose out of the salvage of the RMS Titanic. It was an incredible entry into the world of insurance coverage and shattered my belief that insurance law was boring!
Not speaking up. I would defer to those more experienced in the room even if that meant that I knew the strategy was unlikely to get the desired result for the client. It took a great early mentor to break me of that habit by telling me that he didn’t put me on his files to be a robot that repeated everything he said. While listening and learning from more experienced lawyers is important, you should never be afraid to speak up and provide your perspective. I try to foster a team atmosphere on my files so no one is afraid to speak up about creative ideas and strategies that will help the client.
My advice is to remember that referrals are based on relationships. My first business referrals came from former colleagues that went inhouse as well as referrals from opposing counsel and other lawyers that I built relationships with over the years. As to retaining and nurturing clients, a former colleague once gave me sage advice that doing a great job for your current clients is the easiest way to be assigned additional work.
