Law Firm Culture & Economics

• Are you a strategic or tactical attorney?
• Learn in this article how being a combination of both might be the best combination for you if you want to become a successful lawyer.

• No one is absolutely perfect in their job.
• Yet, in the legal world one mistake can prove fatal.
• Find out the 10 biggest career mistakes a lawyer can make and how they can survive those mistakes.

While most seasoned partners have been through their share of recessions and economic turmoil, the recession of 2008 has put us into uncharted territory. We have seen a number of top tier law firms close their doors. And while there are still plenty of firms that have not been forced to disband, many are looking to take the firm in a new direction in an attempt resurrect it and ensure its survival. Merging with another law firm is a common way to keep a firm alive. READ MORE >

One of the most persistent mistakes legal professionals make is to not understand the importance of "fitting in" in their work environment. Indeed, fitting in is something that both enables you to get and keep a job. In terms of what it takes to succeed in the practice of law over the long term, "fitting in" may actually be more important than your skill level. READ MORE >

Attorneys work extremely hard in large law firms to achieve partner status. Even when they do become partners, there remain different lines of authority between partners which make some feel important and others quite insecure. When an associate is dealing with a partner, he or she is dealing with someone who is in a position to feel insecure because there are almost certainly going to be more important partners above him or her. The best thing you can do in the law firm environment is cater to a partner's need to feel important. Conversely, one of the worst things you can do in a law firm environment is do things to make a partner feel insecure. When you make a partner feel insecure, the response of the partner is generally to stop giving you work or lobby for you to be fired or replaced. READ MORE >

• Culture could be what makes or breaks your career within a law firm.
• Nonetheless, an incorrect or disagreeable culture can often occur with law firms.
• Find out why cultural fits are so important to attorneys and the firms they work with.

• Even as some law firms state they do not bill unfairly, other firms may fall short of that ethic.
• From law firm to law firm that ethic may vary.
• How a law firm bills its clients depends upon the law firm’s culture.