Law, Society & Culture

SUMMARY

• When hiring people, Warren Buffett recommends three main qualities to look for in a person - Intelligence, energy, and integrity. Integrity being the highest of the three.
• These are qualities we would all want in an attorney if were to hire one for ourselves.
• Do attorneys have these three essential qualities innate in them? If yes, how do we identify them in our day to day dealings with legal professionals? Read on to find out.

One of Warren Buffett’s most memorable quotes relates to hiring the right people. I have heard it passed around and spoken about by many business leaders throughout the years, including the former head of Disney, Michael Eisner, and the current head of Disney, Bob Iger. READ MORE >

Many attorneys believe that the quality of their law school, or law firm, will determine the course of their legal career. READ MORE >

Every attorney that works in a large law firm is expected to conform to their rules. Find out why law firms expect a high level of conformity in this article. READ MORE >

Being a law firm attorney means that you will face a lot more rejection, criticism, and other negative burdens than you would in almost any other career. READ MORE >

Find out why it is so hard to get a job in a law firm as an older attorney and how older attorneys can increase their chances. READ MORE >

Why do some attorneys succeed in large, prestigious law firms and others fail? The reason generally does not have to do with how smart a given attorney is or where the attorney went to law school. The real answer has to do with whether or not the attorney follows one simple rule having to do with how much of a positive influence the attorney is within the law firm environment. READ MORE >

Are you in the right kind of law firm? Learn how the type of law firm you are in can make or break your legal career. READ MORE >

This article explores the unique way Yale Law School graduates think about their legal careers. To the untrained eye, these graduates may seem aimless with their careers -- taking jobs in academia and government instead of prestigious law firms. But on closer examination it appears that these graduates might have discovered the secret to greater career and life happiness. This article explains how most attorneys are rent seekers and how to make this system of rent work for you like Yale Law grads do. READ MORE >

Learn how identifying your “tribe” will help you achieve greater career satisfaction and financial security in a law firm. READ MORE >

This article reveals the secrets of the Harvard-inspired ranking system used by high-end legal recruiters to appropriately match attorney candidates with law firms. BCG recruiters assign rankings of “5” (highest) to “1” (lowest) to every law firm seeking to hire attorneys and to every candidate seeking to find a law firm position. The rankings are based on a host of criteria including (for law firms) the stature of the firm’s client base and caliber of the firm’s partners and (for attorney candidates) the candidate’s law school grades and the candidate’s work ethic. READ MORE >

Attorneys are often seeking out lifestyle law firms. While these firms do exist, they are usually not around for long. READ MORE >

Learn why money should never be your first focus when you are trying to decide which law firm you should join. READ MORE >

Summary: Why is it that so many attorneys feel helpless and unfulfilled?

Lately I have heard many attorneys ask "What's the point?" This generally comes up in connection with depressing conversations and leads to uncomfortable silences and existential questions. I often feel forced to agree with such sentiments and find myself commiserating with responses like "That's awful!" and "That sucks" and "I know how you feel!"

• See Why You Should (and Should Not) Quit the Practice of Law for more information.

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Learn the four rules that make all law firms similar to blue collar unions and what you must do to stay employed by them. READ MORE >

If you are going to practice law, you need to be prepared for stress. Practicing law in a law firm requires a certain type of person to be successful. READ MORE >

Hot practice areas typically differ quite dramatically from state to state. However, there are consistencies which are generally always present in most geographical areas. These consistencies are generally applicable across most time periods in most geographic areas. While this is the sort of question I would love to ''write a book'' about, for purposes of brevity I will be brief and highlight only one or two areas that are very busy generally in major geographic areas. READ MORE >

One of the most persistent problems attorneys practicing law have is their failure to collaborate and learn from the other attorneys they are practicing law with. There are several factors that are essential for success in the practice of law and advancing in your career. Being well-liked and collaborating are two of the more important ones. READ MORE >

• One of the main issues people don’t understand about law is that law is a business.
• Furthermore, some lawyers tend to not understand that their legal careers are also businesses.
• Find out why you should treat your law career as a business in order to succeed.

At the outset, it is important to realize that much of what I am saying goes against the "traditional" view of the law as a profession. Obviously, the law is a profession. Notwithstanding the use of the word "profession," though, you can still get fired, not advance, or find yourself in a dead end job. Your skills or specialty can quickly become irrelevant in the marketplace. You can also find yourself in a geographic location where there is no work (i.e., "business"). READ MORE >

• Many young attorneys can suffer from a conceited belief of themselves.
• They in fact become narcissists.
• While confidence and a demand for respect are much-needed attributes in law, self-congratulatory behavior is not welcomed.
• Such behavior, in fact, can destroy a young attorney’s career.

The word narcissism comes from the character made famous by the Greek poet Ovid, Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection. In the story, Echo falls in love with Narcissus and gets rejected. The story makes clear that Narcissus is only able to love himself and not others. Conversely, Echo completely loses herself in her love for Narcissus and has no sense of self at all. At the end of the story, Narcissus tells Echo, "I would die before I give you power over me." Echo responds, "I give you power over me." Both Narcissus and Echo die because their love is unattainable. Many of us cannot find a balance between ourselves and others. READ MORE >