Tag: lawstudents

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Law Students and Young Lawyers

Living in Different Worlds

The Milky Way.
Photo by Pixabay at Pexels.

I believe that lawyers should not compete based on price. I tell this to my mentees, and sometimes the response is, “that is easy for you to say from a cruise ship in the Pacific. I’m struggling to get files in the door and pay my rent.”

I also think that new lawyers should avoid practicing in areas that have become commodities and are particularly fee sensitive, such as residential real estate. My young friends tell me that they have to get cash in the door and that doing some real estate files is the best way to do it.

read more about the Financial pressures on young lawyers “Living in Different Worlds”
Categories
Mentoring

Users and Mentors

Photo by August de Richelieu at Pexels.

This is an abridged version of one of my first posts from several years ago.

Supervising lawyers fall into two groups. 

read more about real and fake mentors “Users and Mentors”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Emily Two – A Tale about Sun Visors, Money, and Ego

Woman in car looking at mirror on sunvisor.
Photo by Gustavo Fring at Pexels.

When automobile manufacturers first put vanity mirrors on sun visors, they only put them on the passenger side. Their reasoning was that the passenger was usually a woman who had makeup to apply. The car was being driven by a man and men did not wear makeup.

Why do you figure that the manufacturers eventually started putting vanity mirrors over the driver’s seat? Did they come to believe that men also like to look at themselves in the mirror? Or was it that they suddenly discovered that women also drive cars?

read more about why there is now a mirror over the driver’s seat and what that has to do with Law Firms “Emily Two – A Tale about Sun Visors, Money, and Ego”
Categories
Firm Culture

How Quickly My Good Idea Becomes Your Great Idea

Woman holding up a picture of a light bulb against a background of a wall-board full of diagrams.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio at Pexels.

Now and then I will tell a story about something that I did back in the day when my wife Maureen and I practiced at the same law firm. Typically my story involves a brilliant legal strategy that I developed, a big win, and a grateful client.

Occasionally Maureen will observe, “how quickly my good idea becomes your great idea.” Her point, I guess, is that she was the brilliant one and I just took her idea and ran with it. It could have happened that way. It was a long time ago and it really is not in my interest to remember the details that clearly.

read more about rainmakers and their impact on firm culture “How Quickly My Good Idea Becomes Your Great Idea”
Categories
The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers

Worrying For Godot

Man sitting hunched over and looking worried.
Photo by Keira Burton at Pexels.

When I practiced law, I worried a lot.  I worried about making a mistake on my files. I worried that I was too busy.  I worried that I was not busy enough.

read more about worrying “Worrying For Godot”
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People I Met Practicing Law

Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Seven: The Supervising Lawyer

A lawyer looking at a book while standing over another lawyer who is seated at his desk.
Photo by Sora Shimazak at Pexels.

This is the last in a series about the questions which Articling Students and new Associates should figure out about their firms when deciding whether to stay there over the long-term.

This time, I will speak about supervising lawyers (“SL”).

read more about your supervisor – the key to whether you love or hate your job “Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Seven: The Supervising Lawyer”
Categories
Law Firm Management

Grilled Cheese, Please

Grilled cheese sandwich on a board with avocado and fries in the background.
Photo by Ahmed Rabea at Pexels.

There is a restaurant in Lakefield, Ontario called the Canoe & Paddle. On their regular menu is a panini called the “Ultimate Grilled Cheese” which comes with smoked bacon, cheddar, asiago, tomato, and garlic butter.

On their Kids & Seniors menu they offer a grilled cheese sandwich for which the ingredients are listed as “white loaf, cheddar.” They call this the “Grilled Cheese Please.”

read more about clear communication in law firms “Grilled Cheese, Please”
Categories
Client Development

Hawkers and Hookers

Young people sitting in an audience and laughing.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko at Pexels.

In 1971, Xaviera Hollander published her first book titled, “The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.” It sold twenty million copies.

read more about what I learned from the Happy Hooker “Hawkers and Hookers”
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People I Met Practicing Law

Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Five: The Chief Financial Officer

Man sitting at desk working with a laptop and a calculator.
Photo by RDNE Stock project at Pexels.

This is the fifth in a series about questions that Articling Students and new Associates should consider when trying to size up their new firm.

This time I will address the most senior person in charge of the money. In your firm, this person could be called any of the following:  Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), Controller, Accounting Manager, Accountant or Bookkeeper.

read more about the people watching the money in law firms “Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Five: The Chief Financial Officer”
Categories
People I Met Practicing Law

Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Four: The Chief Technology Officer

The computers used to launch the first manned space flights at Cape Canaveral

This is the fourth in a series about questions that Articling Students and new Associates should ponder while trying to determine whether they have landed in the right place.

This time I will address the Chief Technology Officer (the “CTO”).  Of course, being lawyers we need a definition, so let’s use this one from Alexander Gillis and others at techtarget.com:

read more about technology in Law Firms “Law Firm Primer For Articling Students and New Associates – Part Four: The Chief Technology Officer”