Where To Ask Legal Questions For Free

what's the most effective means to get work?

Even though it isn't as easy as it had been five or six years ago before the economic downturn, finding a job in the legal marketplace has improved significantly in the previous couple of decades.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?

I am in a smaller city with hardly any law enforcement companies. Finding people with experience has been hard, when we've needed to hire attorneys or paralegals and getting someone to relocate is hard. So we have been reluctant to hire because training can be so time consuming and it's really hard to predict whether a person will work out well with no history working in the area.

Was there anything that you wanted you would have done otherwise in law school that you did not realize before you began to practice?

I'm glad I didn't compare my research habits to those of my friends. I have been a studier. I kept up my customs but heard from friends who had been at the law school library with a study group from open to close, when it came time to search for the bar exam. I wondered if my 10 a.m.--4 p.m. program at my local library was going to induce me to fail the bar, so I ventured down to the law library one day. I found that those folks could have been "at the library" all day, but they were definitely not researching all day. I understood the study skills that got me through law school could get me through the pub and returned to my own customs I understood worked for me.

Would you must drive yourself into the ground the first couple of years of practice to make it?

So while you will not have to necessarily "drive yourself to the ground" to create it, you will be involved in a competitive process and will want to develop a reputation as a go-to associate who's typically inclined to buck up and pitch in if necessary. In this profession, success breeds success. The more you are regarded as a "team player," the more others will want to work together and seek your services. This can help build a demand for your services in your firm market. That is, other partners and associates seeking to construct a team will need you on it. For partners, it is vital to develop this demand because it will allow you to build the foundation for your livelihood and reputation.