Blogging is Good For Your Health

I always wondered why I derive so much pleasure from spending time working on CounseltoCounsel. It turns out that blogging is actually good for your health!

Language Skills and Practicing in Asia

Above the Law has an interesting post for anyone thinking about working in the Far East. While it may seem obvious that fluency in Chinese is a good thing if you are planning to work in China, there may actually be some down sides to fluency. Of course it depends on where you want to be and what country interests you (in Japan, fluency is a big plus.) Some ability in a language may show that you are genuinely interested in the culture. Too much ability may relegate you to tedious document translation in some locations.

Should You Reapply to a Firm that Rejected You?

That's the question answered in this week's career column by a New York recruiter [free subscription required.] In a nutshell, the advice is: why not? But the advice is tempered with reality. If the firm rejected you initially because you lacked experience, then why not try again once you have the experience. But if they rejected you because they only hire candidates with top academics, then maybe reapplying is not a good use of your time (i.e. since you can't change your academics.)

I always tell candidates that they have little to lose by reapplying. If anything, you are demonstrating that you are persistent and that you are truly interested. Here the dating analogy works. Everyone likes to be pursued (to a point...) And to continue the analogy, don't allow fatal attraction to blind you to other career opportunities. It is rare that one and only one employer can satisfy all your career needs.

Multi-tasking is a Myth

The human brain is not actually capable of doing two things at exactly the same time. Of course if you get proficient at something, you can get very good at switching quickly between two activities (to create the illusion that you are multi-tasking). A good piano player does this all the time (quickly switching his or her attention back and forth between the left and right hands.)

And a Blackberry does make it possible to be at your kid's soccer game and wait for an important e-mail message. But don't think for a minute that you can actually work on your Blackberry while watching the soccer game. Either you are not really watching the soccer game, not really getting anything done on your Blackberry or doing both poorly. If you play your cards right, maybe you'll watch the game with focus until the message arrives; but then you'll be in work mode.

Two recent articles highlight how there is no substitute for actually paying attention. One article focuses on the way computing can interrupt the healthy bonding that takes place between mothers and their babies. The other discusses how one doctor observed practitioners making a poor connection with their patients when they sat in front of a computer terminal while talking to them (scroll down to Electronic records no panacea.)

So stop checking your Blackberry when you are at a lunch meeting! You will only diminish the connection between you and your lunch date. If you are expecting an important message that will need a timely response, at least warn your companion and apologize in advance. Anything short of that is rude behavior (for those of us who still care about manners.)

How NOT to Recruit Laterals

Law firms are not always known for having the most advanced management practices. As a recruiter, I've seen many firms miss the chance of hiring great talent simply because they did not pay enough attention to the candidate. A recruiter in Texas has some good anecdotes about this. I also wrote about this subject not long ago.

Keeping it All in Perspective

We have so much to be thankful for in this country. Having a bad day at work? Think about the people of Myanmar.

Depression and the Legal Profession

Robert Ambrogi writes about the issue of depression in the legal profession. Does practicing law cause more people to be depressed than other professions or are individuals who choose to practice law more susceptible to depression?

I don't personally have the answer but I can offer these thoughts: lawyers spend their days thinking about what can go wrong (in a corporate transaction, in a courtroom, etc.) If you devote a lot of mental energy to thinking about negative things (what if the buyer goes bankrupt before the closing? what if there is toxic waste on the property? what if the opposing counsel cross examines the witness about his romantic relationship with the defendant? what if, what if, what if....) This kind of thinking is critical to the competent practice of law. But it needs to be offset with some big picture thinking (how will this deal advance the client's business interests? how will a plaintiff's verdict enable the individual to get back on his feet in the work force?)

Lawyers are sometimes accused by business people of being deal killers. Maybe killing too many deals leads to depression because you have failed to see the potential upsides for the client.

So do some depression prevention. Start thinking positively about your client's career, life or business objectives. You may still end up warning your client about risks that should be avoided. But if you temper that with reality (is the risk actually remote?), then you may find your own day brightening a little and in the end, you'll have happier clients.

If You Feed Them, They Will Come

I was reminded yesterday that food is the universal marketing tool. If you want to gather a crowd, good food is the key. Are you thinking of planning an event for clients or prospective clients? Make sure the publicity clearly states that food and drinks will be served.

For the past two years, I have sublet space from a boutique law firm, Gesmer Updegrove. In a short time, I have come to appreciate that this firm really knows how to throw a good party. They also understand how to leverage a marketing event.

Take yesterday's Open House. The firm sent out invitations that were followed up by several e-mail reminders. They created a web page and gave out door prizes every hour (i-pods in this case.) Every attorney at the firm was given a list of which clients were planning to attend. There were name tags, of course, a slide show displaying the logos of their clients (the firm represents a lot of technology companies) and most importantly, a crowded lobby and conference room (note to self--make sure to choose a room you can fill if you want good energy at an event.) It was a low keyed affair but it seemed like people were having a good time (and the hors doeuvres were yummy!) All in all, pretty good bang for the marketing buck!

The Rich Get Richer

Biglaw profits continue to outpace the rest of the legal profession. That's my take on the just released AmLaw100.