What Not To Do If You Want To Practice Law
Although most of us in the BCG Attorney Search are lawyers, we still need an in-house attorney to deal with our ongoing company legal issues. I wanted to hire someone who would dive deep, understand these issues, and then defend us and improve our position. Instead, I got an attorney who opposed everything we were doing and found every argument against the company he was supposed to support. He was not trying to understand our stance and only looked at what was wrong with it. I had a feeling that we got an opposing counsel, not an in-house attorney, who was supposed to give us legal advice.
Of course, he was let go after two weeks. He failed in this main trait - he was not an advocate for his employer. While not all lawyers are this extreme in not being good advocates, unfortunately, many do not understand the importance of advocating for your clients, law firm, bosses, subordinates, and other people or companies on your side. We are not taught this in law schools, yet it is the essential thing others want from lawyers.
Another Way How Not To Do the Legal Profession
There are also people in the legal profession who understand this rule very well. A few years ago, I needed an accountant to be an expert witness in a divorce case. This is a person I have known for years, and I always considered him passionate about his job, his clients, and because we knew each other, I felt like he was interested in me and the case. He told me that if I paid him a flat fee of 45 thousand dollars, he would do everything needed for that case from the beginning to the end, and he would win it for me. I wanted to be sure about hiring him, so we met several times to talk about the case, and he seemed invested. He seemed like he would advocate for our side. So, I decided to hire him and paid the whole sum in advance.
When the time came, and we were supposed to have a full-day hearing, I called him and asked him to attend. He told me he could give me an hour of his time and do it on the phone. I could not believe it! I tried to argue with him, but he only screamed profanities at me and ended the call. Later, he informed me that he was ending the contract and keeping the money as he could do that based on our agreement.
I know the legal system, and I am not scared to take people to court, especially when someone is blatantly breaking the professional conduct in the practice of law, so I told him I would sue him if he did not return the money. I also told him how shocked I was with his behavior. His answer showed that he understood an essential rule very well. He told me that he only cared about money, and the rest was all an act. He never cared about me or the case. Of course, he tried to negotiate how much money he would refund. It was not the first time he had done this.
The Importance of Having People On Your Side in the Legal System
Being an advocate for someone means being on their side. If you are an employee in a law firm or work under a boss, that means advocating for them. If you are not supporting your superiors and firm, you become a liability, not an ally. And that can easily result in losing your job.
I have been let go a few times in my life, whether before I entered the legal system or after studying law, getting my law degree, and starting doing legal work. I failed to be on the side of the individual for whom I was doing the work in the first place.
After I got my legal education, I spent a year clerking for a judge at the federal level who was very conservative, along with the second clerk that was working with me. On the other hand, many people in the courthouse were very liberal, and this political divide could be seen in the judge's opinions. Because I was closer to age with the liberal lawyers, I spent quite a lot of time with them. Apart from legal matters, we also talked about other things, such as the people in the courthouse. Among them was the judge I was clerking for, and because their world viewpoints were so different, they did not have good things to say about him. They did not agree with his decisions or how he came to them and were very keen to point this out.
Because I heard these negative things about the judge everywhere around me, I quickly started to look at him the same way. I began to act antagonistically toward him and failed to support him, although that was why I was there. The judge hired me to have his back, and he was responsible for training me, paying me, and could help me further my career if I had formed a close relationship with him. However, I did not do that. I could sense that my behavior toward him made him reconsider his initial decision to hire me, so I quickly quit before he had the chance to fire me.
The other lawyer knew the importance of supporting the hand that feeds you. She knew that if she wanted to succeed, whether in the court or later in her career, she had to help the judge, not stand in opposition. She kept far away from the people who did not like our judge and did what she could to have his back. And it paid off as he stood behind her and helped her advance as a lawyer.
The judge chose to hire from quite a big pool of candidates, and he probably did that because he thought I would support him. He was looking for an advocate for him, and I failed to do that. I am sure it must have felt bad. Nobody wants to have people who are not on their side or even go against them. All we seek in life and our careers are people who will stand behind us. We are looking for various groups to belong to, so we have people around us who will have our backs. For example, unions, support groups, communities, political parties, and even religions are built on people who support each other when needed. It is what we are looking for in this world and the law practice as well.
Law Firms Want To Hire Advocates As Their Employees
Law firms hire attorneys who look like they are going to be good advocates for the firm. The same applies to other employers. Being an advocate for your firm means being a good employee - working hard, being diligent, punctual, and intelligent are all characteristics associated with being an advocate for the firm, but it is not enough. It also means standing behind the thought of the firm, behind its interests and investments.
Many law students and lawyers think about money, status, connections, public perception, or politics when looking for a job and interviewing in firms. But law firms want to hire lawyers that will stand behind them and their interests. They want to find supporters.
Firms will look for connections you could have to the firm and people working there in your resume. The more similar you are to the firm, whether you went to the same law school, hail from the same region, share similar political or religious views, or have any other similarity, the more likely you will identify with it and help support.
If your resume shows that you will not stand behind the firm and its interests, you will not be a good advocate for the firm, and they will not hire you.
Clients Will Choose Attorneys Who Seem Like They Will Be Good Advocates for Them With Their Legal Advice
When clients hire lawyers to represent them, they are looking for an advocate that will stand on their side and support their stance. That is all for a lawyer. You have to understand the client's problem and stand behind them ultimately to be able to win. If you cannot do it, you will not be able to effectively and persuasively argue your case and will lose it in the end.
If you want to represent clients successfully, you have to convince yourself about their point of view and believe in them. That's what clients want.
Even with the best law schools and firms on your resume, they will not choose you if you cannot persuade your potential clients that you will stand behind them. Most clients will sense if you are faking your interest. You should always honestly believe in your client; then, they will hire you.
Senior Lawyers Promote and Help Attorneys Who Advocate for Them
Just like employers hire employees that will advocate for them, senior attorneys help those junior attorneys who are best advocates for them. In many firms, it is even mandatory to have a more senior partner vouch for you if you want to make partners.
Advocating for a senior associate or a partner means anticipating their needs and taking responsibility for some of their work, making sure they are viewed positively by other firm members and clients, and doing everything you can to help them succeed.
These senior attorneys then do everything to help promote and advance the person helping them so much. They might help make you partners. They will often give you intel on what is happening behind closed doors in the firm and warn you before trouble. If the firm is in bad shape, they will often help you switch firms together to secure better positions.
Unfortunately, many lawyers do not understand this and do not try to advocate for more senior lawyers. Sometimes they even stand in opposition to them and ruin their chances of having an old ally. Do not make that mistake.
Law Firms Keep and Promote Attorneys Who Are Good Advocates for Them
Being a good advocate for a firm is essential for keeping the job and advancing there. The firm in which they work can quickly determine which attorneys are for and against it. Once firms know this, they will do everything they can to push out the people against them and keep only those who will support them.
If a firm finds out that someone that works for them gives sensitive information about the firm or firm's clients to the press or competition, they will immediately fire them. There is just no going around that. Firms only want people who support them no matter what, even if the firm is currently experiencing issues. There are always issues within firms, so they have to ensure that the people on their team will have the employers back even throughout such times.
Doing anything that goes against the firm or lawyers working there will often quickly result in losing your job. On the other hand, supporting the firm and people working there rewards job stability and promotions.
Senior Attorneys Who Advocate for Their Subordinates Are Always Supported by Them
Every one of us remembers the teacher that believed in us and helped us more than they needed to. I know I do, and it always brings the warmest feelings thinking of the support my English teacher gave me.
Attorneys who have people working under them should be the same. Caring for your subordinates and supporting them in what they are doing, even beyond the primary professional responsibility, is what creates strong professional relationships. Such relationships usually help both sides eventually. Lawyers in the subordinate positions never forget that someone cared for them, stood behind them, and helped them more than was needed. They will gladly repay this support once they are in the position to do so.
I once worked under a great, well-known attorney and asked him a general question about depositions. He answered as best as he could at that time, and I thought that was it. Even though they were beyond his responsibilities and what he could be paid for, I found several voice recordings with more tips and thoughts the next day. He continued to support me, and I have never forgotten it. Once I advanced in my career and could help him, I sent cases and clients his way when I could. I valued him for what he did for me and wanted to help him as well.
Conclusions
Being an attorney is not enough in the legal industry. It would help if you also were an advocate for your law firm, clients, senior lawyers above you, as well as your subordinates. That is the only key to success in the law industry.
