Build Your Reputation

In my latest article on law crossing, I talk about the importance of getting known. In marketing, they call this "positioning". In the law, it is about demonstrating that you have expertise in a type of litigation, a type of transaction or in working with a particular industry.

The Wonderful World of NALP

I am waiting for my flight out of lovely Denver back to my hometown of San Francisco. I have at least another hour until my flight boards and my thoughts turn toward introspection. This week I and my colleagues at our recruiting firm (BCG Attorney Search) met here in the Mile-High City to attend the yearly NALP convention to swap stories and chat with our clients—law firm recruiting coordinators. It was a fun time, replete with an exciting giveaway (we gave away a Mini-Cooper to one of our clients), surprise snow storms (good thing our Boston recruiter was along to help drive!), and way too much rich food and, ahem, conviviality.

Well. My report back from speaking with scores of law firm insiders is that things are humming along at a consistent, brisk pace—one we have become accustomed to over the last few years. Firms are hungry for great talent, eager to discover how they can better attract that talent, and enthusiastic for the future in the near term (remember Uncle Friedman’s injunction: there is no long term!). At any rate, the good news is no “new” news. This is a wonderful time to spread one’s legal wings, find a new platform, and make a move up, or sideways.

As I am often want to remind my candidates, this does not mean it is a good time to just strum along and go with the flow. Rather, US attorneys are being given the gift of relative freedom and openness in the market to explore, grow their practices, and add new skills. In my view, this is given to us for a purposes, and there is little “karmic waste” out there. What does that mean? It means that the chance to grow is an opportunity we must grasp firmly in order to weather whatever storms come along down the path tomorrow.

On the other hand, it is also a good time to reflect, ponder and analyze professional and personal goals and strengths. If you haven’t done so yet this year, then take time out to make hay while the sun shines, and do yourself the favor of paying attention to number one: you! (Click on this link: http://bcgsearch.com/crc/buildlegalcareer.html for some thoughts on how to jump-start the creative process!).

Taking Time Off, Even From Blogging!

I'm attending the annual conference of the National Association for Law Placement. This year we are in Keystone, Colorado (a week after the ski season ends--but it is beautiful anyway.) It's up at 9000 feet above sea level so it is actually snowing outside my window right now.

I always enjoy getting away to conferences and talking to my BCG colleagues from around the country. It is also a chance to meet some of the law firm recruiting coordinators and law school career services people that I talk to on the phone.

And in the spirit of making it a real "getaway", I am not blogging this week. But I'll be back in full gear next week.

Declutter Your Career

WSJ's Career Journal has an interesting article by Sarah E. Needleman on Decluttering Your Career this week. The article advocates the idea that by removing extraneous distractions that get in your way, you can free up time, gain energy and work smarter. The article has five suggestions:

1. Define your goals, including personal and career aspirations. Write down where you want to be in five years, then make clearly- defined annual objectives to help you reach your ultimate goal.

2. Don't avoid difficult projects. Make your most difficult task your top priority then "chop it into smaller pieces." It will seem much more manageable once you do this.

3. Don't overload on e-mails. Cancel newsletters, listserves and other mailings that aren't useful to you. Create folders that organize emails that aren't acceptable for deletion.

4. Reduce the chit-chat. Excessive socializing is a drain. Make sure you set boundaries for yourself so you aren't constantly interrupted.

Quitting With Grace

My colleague Carey Bertolet has a nice piece on quitting with grace. If you are an associate at a large firm and you hope some day to build you own practice at a smaller firm, her advice is well worth heeding.

I have worked with many associates who have left large firm positions and done an excellent job of leveraging their big firm contacts once they are out the door. In fact, building your relationships with partners and associates while you are at a large firm is probably the most important thing you can do for your career in the long run.

Partners at large firms can become excellent referral sources for clients who cannot afford large firm fees. They can also become referral sources for conflicts work. If your goal is to go in-house some day, these individuals can also be an important source of information about companies that need in-house counsel.

The Pursuit of Happyness

I watched The Pursuit of Happyness with my kids this weekend. It's a rags to riches feel good movie that was "inspired by a true story". It follows the life of a black father (played wonderfully by Will Smith) as he tries to make a good life for his son (played by Will Smith's son in real life.)

If you have ever tried to generate business as a lawyer, you should see this movie. The shear determination of the main character is truly inspiring (he manages to finish an internship program with Dean Whitter even though he and his son become homeless along the way.)

What comes through in this story is that attitude and determination are critical to success. Of course most of us will not face the odds faced by Will Smith's character. So watch the movie and then go forth and network--and make sure to keep a smile on your face even in the face of failure.

Disclosing that you were asked to leave a prior job

This is perhaps one of the grayest areas in job searching because there are so many differing opinions. In this week's Recruiter Q&A on LawCrossing, a reader asked me this question. A link to my response is below, which provides arguments on both sides and then ends with my personal opinion. In short, I have seen this scenario played out numerous ways and I firmly believe that while honesty is not the easiest policy, it's the best policy. As a lawyer, credibility and trustworthiness are among the most essential characteristics, and this extends to job searching as well.

Here's a link to the full discussion: http://www.lawcrossing.com/article/index.php?id=2859

Taking Charge of Your Emotional Self

David Maister has a great post on emotional self control. He argues:

"if your emotions let you down, your talent won’t save you.

There’s no point having superior skills if you procrastinate in putting them to use. There’s no point being smart if you give up at the first sign of failure.

Getting control of your emotions, and yourself, is essential to let your true ability shine through"

This is particularly true in the practice of law. If we let our emotions cloud our judgment, then we fail to provide our clients with the dispassionate advice that they need. Much of this comes down to how we handle rejection and defeat. No lawyer always wins and no lawyer wins on every point of disagreement. This is true in a litigation context and it is equally true in the course of negotiating a deal.

So what do you do to build up your emotional self? Personally, I find exercise to be a great (and essential) part of my week. I also try to take time to do something special with my children on a regular basis. Anyone have other thoughts?

Weighing Multiple Law Firm Offers?

In the last couple of months, I've worked with a few terrifically strong candidates who received multiple law firm offers simultaneously. Obviously, this is a great problem to have. Many candidates receive one offer and are happy to have it! But if you do receive many competing offers at the same time, making your choice can become an agonizing decision.

I found this chart on NYU Law School's website. It has a handy questionnaire that allows you to assess your goals and really solidify what is you want from your next position. I think it is always a good exercise sit down with pen and paper when you really need to think through something. Your career is such an important factor in your happiness and it deserves careful, periodic examination.

The Secret Behind All the Secrets to Success

There are many secrets to success. They are as plentiful and as numerous as the sands under the sea. Some are easily discovered through diligence and creativity, some by meeting with others we consider more successful than ourselves, some by paying to see specialists, and some by scaling lofty mountains and seeking our gurus. But I can tell you that all these secrets are subordinate to the one, glorious secret within all such secrets.

Best of all, it will cost you nothing, requires no discipline, will not cause you to sweat, does not involve unending self-absorption, is not fattening, and, boot, will make you happier.

And that is: desire. I do not mean mere 'wanting', I mean an all-encompassing passion directed toward a particular state or goal or need. The point is not that you must have goals-goals are too superficial. What you need is to unlock the floodgates before the ocean of your passions. Don't laugh. It is the natural and unassailable state of all men and women that they have massive storehouses of passion walled up inside them. The trick is to let them out. And it is not hard to do so. In fact, it is merely the knowing, the realization, that such a storehouse really does exist, that starts the waters to boiling.

Thus, now that I have you starting to think about that well of passion, you need but allow that truth to sink in a little, and the inexorable drive of your well-honed mind (you ARE a lawyer, right?) will bring to you the point where that passion will find an outlet. Once that begins to happen, the only challenge will be to channel the force of the waters that flow out from your creative and competent mind.

On a lighter note, it is sort of like "cooties"-it is easily passed on-tag! And now that I have planted this tiniest of seeds in your mind, it will have no choice but to germinate. In those with high intellect and fortitude (you automatically qualify by virtue of getting through law school and passing the bar), those seeds will of necessity fall on fertile ground. Just you wait, even the tiniest of realizations can become an unstoppable force. It has happened to me; it has happened to many of my candidates. It can happen to you.

If you want to learn more about your own unlocked potential as a lawyer, as a person, as a professional, surf over to www.bcgsearch.com/pete_smith.html.

Surviving a Merger

My colleague Pete Smith (who also writes for this blog) has a very nice piece on how to protect yourself in the event that your firm undergoes a merger. In a nutshell, he underscores the importance of keeping up with what is going on inside your law firm (i.e. beyond the practice of law.)

Information is power and burying yourself in your office may not be the best survival strategy in a world where a huge percentage of law firms are contemplating a merger. I agree with Pete that it is important to keep your ear to the ground and learn what you can about the inner workings and financial health of your firm and of your practice group. But law firm failure is also a fact of life so it is important to keep up your network beyond your firm. I have written about this here.