My new book, New Lawyer Launch:  The Handbook for Young Lawyers (Full Court Press, 2022), is out!  New Lawyer Launch is available in paperback, PDF, ebook and Kindle on Amazon and on the publisher’s book page at https://www.fastcase.com/product/new-lawyer-launch-the-handbook-for-young-lawyers/ where you can view the book and see inside.  It is the support young lawyers need to help them  succeed.  

New Lawyer Launch is a tutorial on practical skills, stress management, and achieving the job satisfaction that is very much at risk for young lawyers today.  It will reduce the guess work and give entry-level lawyers the confidence they need to do the job they have chosen.

I am joined in the book by more than 15 Book Contributors, including leaders of Biglaw, who shared their best advice for young lawyers. In addition to “Strategies for Success and Survival,” the book includes information about law practice settings, legal specialties, and related careers.

Topics addressed in the book include:

• What it means to be a professional and what kind of behavior is expected of lawyers, including a plea for civil discourse;
• Making a strong first impression and getting off to a positive start;
• Being respectful to the staff;
• Being sensitive to office politics;
• Mastering the art of billing hours and tracking business expenses;
• Being careful with social media;
• Controlling tempers;
• Protecting work product;
• Steering clear of toxic colleagues;
• Respecting deadlines and setting boundaries;
• Being effective team members;
• Being competent at self-advocacy and networking and understanding the concepts behind business development;
• Developing leadership skills;
• Learning law firm economics;
• Paying attention to work-life balance and wellness; and
• Avoiding overspending to keep options open.

Everything that young lawyers and law students need to know —- that is not taught in law school — is in this book.  It also can be used effectively by senior lawyers to develop successful mentoring programs.

Order your copies today to support the young lawyers in your life.  Make it required reading for law school Professional Responsibility classes, include it in the welcome baskets for new associates, and make it available to mentors.

EVERYBODY WINS with this book.  Young lawyers do their jobs better and to greater satisfaction, and senior lawyers spend less time complaining and more time mentoring effectively.

Don’t shoot the messenger when you read this article on Above the Law. The tension was inevitable.

The gist of the article is that Biglaw associates have become a bit too set in their ways on the WFH issue and will have to flex up to get back to the office to meet the requirements of employers. That firms wants more in-office presence now that the pandemic seems behind us should have been expected, but returning to in-office practice is not being met with a lot of real world perspective by young lawyers. The risk from such inflexible attitudes is to be “left behind.” And in the current hiring market, that is not a good place to be.

According to an associate recruiter from Major, Lindsey & Africa: “We, as society and the legal industry, are in the position where we need to commit to change and endure some of the tougher, more inconvenient parts. That is, if [associates] want to maintain a sense of community that brought them to the firm.”

Hopefully firm managers will not become too selfish either. Some of the blended programs for return-to-the-office, which require a part-time presence, appear reasonable and workable. There is not much argument that America has gone overboard with expanding work hours and the work week, too, so there is plenty of room for improvement.

And for Biglaw, there is no time like the present.

Rarely do I see a bio of a woman lawyer like this. Yes, there are the Ruth Bader Ginsburgs and the Sandra Day O’Connors and others of their visibility and accomplishments, but none quite like this. None that is as down to earth and yet as lofty at the same time.

To read about a woman who practiced law into her 90’s and became a criminal defense lawyer because she ” thought that facing the unknown and having to think on her feet was heaven” is nothing short of inspiring.

I hope you will take the time to read about Eleanor Jackson Piel. It is true that she lived in a different time and that accomplishing what she did might not be as easy today. My guess is that electronic filing would get a little challenging for a ninety-some year old lawyer today. But the true grit and determination of this woman are timeless.

But, as the article asks, why should someone like Eleanor Jackson Piel have to die for her accomplishments to be heralded far and wide? Why shouldn’t those threads of greatness be celebrated while she is alive and can appreciate the value others see in her accomplishments?

Although there is nothing we can do about the slow recognition in the case of Ms. Piel, we can do something about the senior lawyers with great accomplishments under their belts who we interface with every day. We can let them know how appreciated they are and how grateful we are to breathe their same air and learn from them. We can acknowledge their value to the young lawyers who, too often, wander the halls clueless and afraid to ask for help until that salient moment when a lawyer like Eleanor Jackson Piel approaches to say, “Can I help you?”

I hope you have such a salient moment, and I hope you handle it well by taking advice and returning praise and thanks.

Throughout my project for young lawyers, I have stressed the concept of getting out of comfort zones to increase competency and assure positive professional careers. I learned it during my practice years, and it just makes sense to me. But I also recognize that venturing beyond comfort zones involves taking risks, and risk taking can be stress inducing. Or so we thought.

Now someone, an executive, leadership, and life coach to impressive business leaders, is telling us that you can achieve less stress, more success, and more joy by embracing risk taking. In her new book, BET ON YOU: How to Win with Risk, Angie Morgan Witkowski shares the following insights about risk:

• Daydreaming is important. Ask yourself what your professional kaleidoscope looks like, what’s worth pursuing, where is the starting point, whether you have the necessary resources for the journey, and whether the challenges can be enjoyable.
• The right guides and mentors are imperative to success while taking risks. These guides and mentors need to include people who have experiences that reflect goals you’d like to achieve.
• Both planning and doing are essential; and
• Fear is your enemy. Fear stifles accomplishment by creating illusions of safety that crush healthy risk taking and run counter to increased job satisfaction and happiness.

Check out the author and the book. It is a perspective you need to explore.