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My advice to young lawyers, said it more than once.
The reason you need to have both savings and Plan B for every law job is, somebody will eventually ask you to do something or tolerate something hard-core unethical.
you need to be able to hit EJECT and not blink.
The reason you need to have both savings and Plan B for every law job is, somebody will eventually ask you to do something or tolerate something hard-core unethical.
you need to be able to hit EJECT and not blink.
You need to decide early in your career whether you’re going to take the hit ethically or financially. I recommend financially; money is scarce but it’s the easiest hard thing to replace in the universe.
Some people will tell you that you need to save because that’s what conservative people do or righteous people do.
you really need to save so that you don’t become somebody else’s patsy.
you really need to save so that you don’t become somebody else’s patsy.
I think of AGC v Glassman-Katz, young MD associate disbarred by consent for taking on unreasonable overburden of cases, partners only suspended. She took the big risk, they got the profit.
I was minimally acquainted with the respondent,
I have never made peace with this case.
I was minimally acquainted with the respondent,
I have never made peace with this case.
You need to have the ability to walk out no notice, even if you never exercise it and even if you never come close and even if you never think about it.
ideally, you work with ethical, reasonable people and you just enjoy your job AMAP and enjoy your life.
ideally, you work with ethical, reasonable people and you just enjoy your job AMAP and enjoy your life.
They tell you in law school what the ethics rules are, and test on them law-school style.
what they don’t do: teach you actually to balance an escrow checkbook, teach you how to walk out of a bad law practice while not walking out on your clients, teach you the major traps.
what they don’t do: teach you actually to balance an escrow checkbook, teach you how to walk out of a bad law practice while not walking out on your clients, teach you the major traps.
true in many fields I suppose, but it’s particularly on point in law, where we have so much power and trust and so many ways to fall down.
you should also never assume, without checking, that any lawyer is reliable. Giuliani was a name partner and SDNY USAtty at one point.
you should also never assume, without checking, that any lawyer is reliable. Giuliani was a name partner and SDNY USAtty at one point.
If you don’t believe you have the will to get fired rather than total your license, then pick something else with your law degree. publishing, sales, vendor relationships with law firms, law library work, policy wonk. Probably ethical considerations there too, but less severe.
Out of my graduating class at Maryland law ‘94, four attorneys have been kicked out from the bar indefinitely. Three of the four were smarter than I am and probably the fourth too. I’m still standing because I’m a difficult willful redneck, not by brains.
One bogarted escrow money. One got involved with the real estate flipping scandal in Baltimore. One failed to file taxes for a lot of years, And one forged a judge’s signature. All brilliant outperforming me by conventional metrics.
Yet, in my mediocrity, am still in the game.
Yet, in my mediocrity, am still in the game.
The second piece of advice I would give to any young lawyer or law student would be to purge destructive people early.
don’t have to be vicious about it just get the distance you need
good for everyone but extra important for lawyers.
don’t have to be vicious about it just get the distance you need
good for everyone but extra important for lawyers.
The third piece of advice I would give to young lawyers, and I do give it when they put up with my personality face-to-face, is to get rid of careerism entirely.
figure out what it is you really want, and work backwards.
figure out what it is you really want, and work backwards.
If you actually like big firm life then go get it, but don’t assume that because the firms are big that they’re good. The Soviet Union was big but it was not good.
Ask what are your values and do that ruthlessly, then assemble the people that support that. Maybe it’s independence, annual skiing in Gstaad, revolution, a car running in vegetable oil. Whatever. Do not assume that law school/ big firms have this, but assume you CAN find it.
