I have been on many cruise ships. On every single one there was a daily meeting listed in the schedule of events for the Friends of Bill W. and Doctor Bob. After my first 10 or 12 cruises, I remarked to someone that these fellows must cruise a lot, because they have been on every cruise that I have taken. After laughing hysterically, my acquaintance informed me that Bill W. and Doctor Bob were the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, that they were no longer alive, and therefore most likely not on the ship, and that the listed event was a 12-step meeting for Alcoholics.
I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and for a long time I was not smart enough to ask.
When I started practicing business law at age 26, there was a lot of stuff that I did not know about life, business, and law. And I did not even know what I was, or wasn’t, supposed to know. I joined a firm as one of two junior business lawyers, being the only business lawyers in the firm. I was given two choices, and they were not training or mentoring. They were sink or swim. So I sank for a while and eventually learned to swim. I do not recommend this approach to starting your career.
Young lawyers joining an established law firm likely expect that they will receive proper support, and they often will. But not always. To them I can only offer the recommendation that they do their homework before signing up.
Newcomers who ‘choose’ to start their own practice immediately upon becoming licensed have it tougher. I have put the word “choose” in quotes because I am well aware that many of them really have no choice, because the job market is not friendly to them, often because they face prejudice from the legal establishment due to having been internationally trained and new to the country, and because they do not have a robust network of contacts here in Canada.
Of course, some of these newly minted sole practitioners have prior business and life experience, have worked as a law clerk or a lawyer in another jurisdiction, and have the ability to identify what they need to learn and to go about learning it, all while juggling the new reality of being in business for themselves. If they are diligent and patient, they can be successful, especially if they can limit their practice to a niche which is not doomed to become a commodity.
For those lawyers who don’t know a whole bunch about life or business when they start out, it will be more difficult, especially if they are under financial pressure at the same time. My suggestion to them is that they speak to older and more experienced folks and put together a list of what they need to learn, and then go about learning it, ideally with the help of some mentors who have been there. Things like law, business, networking, branding, finances, and preserving fitness and mental health.
Be a man or woman with a plan. Don’t just jump in and stumble through. Like I did.
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc