As a young lawyer, I got laid off from my big firm during a recession. It wasn’t fun; I felt all the fear, rejection and other unpleasantness one might expect.
That experience ended up being a valuable professional gift. (I would even venture to say that this kind of sink-or-swim education has been a central ingredient of my professional success.)
How? It taught me crucial early lessons about the business of law. It forced me to zero in on the most important people in my professional world—my clients—and to consider my value proposition from their point of view. While I, like all lawyers, had been trained to think strategically when doing client work like writing contracts or taking discovery, I suddenly understood that I had not been thinking strategically about my own value.
I brought to my next law firm job a more sophisticated appreciation of what constituted bang for my employer’s buck, what made me valuable to internal and external clients, and ultimately, what I’d need to do to be a “keeper” if I so chose.
I offer these lessons now to those lawyers working during their first potential economic downturn (and, likely, facing the specter of school loans). “You, Inc.” can leverage this new understanding to succeed—in any professional setting you choose.
Billable hours help you earn your keep but are not the only measure of the value you bring to the firm. Your value comes from how much senior lawyers want you to work on their matters. That is largely a function of how much they trust you.
Here’s how to earn the trust of the firm’s senior lawyers and thus maximize your value—to both the firm and to “You, Inc.”
Build relationships with and learn from your firm’s senior lawyers
I’ll be blunt (and please don’t kill the messenger): anyone who has joined the profession in recent years has missed out, often substantially, on learning opportunities due to the pandemic.
One of the great things about being a member of this profession is the chance to learn from others with more experience. Much of this happens by osmosis or observation—and most of what I’m describing isn’t even “legal skills” per se, as much as it is “professional skills.”
I’m talking about communicating effectively with clients, supervisors and people you supervise; managing client expectations; finessing a situation elegantly when you mess up (we all do); how to handle or even fire an unreasonable client; how to deal with an adversary; and crucially, how to build relationships.
These skills are highly transferable: investing in learning them has a tremendous individual ROI.
Your skillset and, thus, your marketability may have suffered as a result of you not being physically able to observe and learn from lawyers bringing their A-game in one of the world’s most demanding professional environments.
These gaps are no one’s fault, least of all yours. But the consequences are yours to own and manage.
How? Ask your supervisor for feedback during a slower moment. (Check out this resource on asking for feedback.) Ask how you can add more client value. Knock on partners’ doors and (respectfully) ask for five minutes of advice on what expertise you can develop to benefit the firm. Work to understand what they’ve done and how they’ve learned. Then, loop back later and share how their advice helped you improve.
Attend to the details and get clear on the deliverable. Then, deliver that and more.
Your firm’s clients pay for top-tier customer service, not just excellent legal work. The market for legal services is competitive: in the words of one managing partner, “We’re a 5-star hotel. If we want our clients to stay here instead of going to the budget motel down the street, the value we deliver has to exceed the rates we charge.”
This means getting the client’s work done as quickly and perfectly as possible.
As a junior member of the team, you’re tasked with executing the “little” things—filing deadlines, procedural rules, finalizing of documents, etc., to ensure the product is as flawless as possible. Typos, blanks, inconsistent provisions and mistakes erode the client’s trust in the firm and, therefore, the firm’s trust in you. Your job is to be the trustworthy person the senior lawyers can count on to get things done right.
It’s admittedly not always glamorous. But it’s crucial: that’s why every senior lawyer started their career doing the same thing. In a competitive legal market, firms must earn and keep the trust of their clients every day.
To do your job efficiently, it’s imperative you understand your assignment fully. Find out to whom you should direct your future questions, how often they want you to touch base, the time and date of your deadlines, who should receive the final deliverable, and in what form (email, project software, etc.). If your assignment is to write a motion to dismiss, offer to show your supervisor an outline to get on the same page before you spend client hours on writing.
Find (or create) opportunities to support the firm’s business development
Clients are crucial to your firm’s bottom line. Most of your firm’s partners would love to have more time to devote to cultivating relationships with new and existing clients. Especially if your group is slow, they might appreciate your offer to help with a pitch, client alerts, materials for a conference or research for an article.
Think about how you can offer up your highest and best, not just the level of work expected from your “class year.” If you have untapped skills, such as public speaking, say so. If you are interested in diving deep and becoming an expert in a narrow subject, like payments or artificial intelligence, say so. Ask questions that show you’re curious and have taken the initiative to learn what you could learn on your own.
It may not always feel like it, but remember that you do have personal agency and ownership over your professional future. If you use this moment to assess and enhance your own value, the benefits flow not only to your current or future firm, but to you.
By thinking and acting like a business-savvy owner of the firm, you’ll increase your value not only to your firm—but to “You, Inc.” That is a brilliant investment.
Reprinted with permission from The American Lawyer. © 2023 ALM Media Properties, LLC.
Further duplication or distribution without permission is prohibited. All rights reserved.
