Career Tips for New Lawyers – How to Create Your Ideal Life and Career

Congratulations!  You graduated from law school/landed your first clerkship/internship/associate position/job!  Now what?  If you landed your dream job that you’ve always wanted since you were 5 years old, good for you!  You are one of the incredibly fortunate .05% of attorneys in the U.S.  But if you were lucky enough to find a job, it is probably slightly less than perfect.  Maybe you wanted to be at a big, prestigious firm, but ended up somewhere else.   Or maybe you made it to a big firm and are wondering what you got yourself into.  Either way, there is hope!

Despite the fact that attorneys in the United States are among the most intelligent, educated, motivated, and academically successful people in the country, many are unhappy with their chosen profession.  Many leave the law altogether after only a few years.  Is being an attorney really that terrible?  The answer is definitely not!

This is clearly a sweeping generalization.  Obviously, there are plenty of happy lawyers out there, and they love what they do.  While we cannot claim to know their secrets to career fulfillment, and do not have a magic formula for career success, we do have some tips. 

When starting out, try to have a vision in mind for how you want your life to be, and plan accordingly.  For some reason, lawyers tend to be fairly passive when it comes to their careers – they take whatever work they can get.  At first, this is fine and normal.  If you’re looking for a job, you’ll take the best thing available.  If you’re at a firm, you’ll do whatever the partners ask you to do.  But during this process, even if you feel like you don’t have any control over what work you do, you still should be mindful of what you want to do someday because eventually, you will have a choice.  And even when it seems like you’re taking orders, you still have power to shape your career.  If you ever find yourself hating your job, time will only heighten your feelings, not lessen them.  Law can be all consuming, so you definitely want to like what you do.

Consider your strengths and weaknesses, and how much you want to work.  Think about plans for family.  Think about your ideal work environment and colleagues.  Brainstorm, and write it down.

1.  Once you have considered your life, now think about what you love.  What is interesting to you?  What gets you up in the morning?  Find a way to incorporate it into your career path.  Maybe you love fashion?  Can you represent fashion designers?  Write their contracts?  Maybe you love sports?  Get involved with sports agencies, or sporting goods product defense.

2.  Create a niche. 

Why is this important?

Happy people are more successful.  Everyone knows when you like what you’re doing.  People (as in clients and therefore success) will be drawn to you if you are interesting to be around.  You will be excited, more engaged, more effective, and more knowledgeable if you enjoy your career.  Joy is a natural incentive to gaining more knowledge and experience, and in connecting you with people and groups who will help to advance your career.

The opposite is true for unhappy people.  If you don’t like what you’re doing, people can tell.  You will be less effective at developing a career if you are not interested in your work.  Do you want to do business with a miserable person?  Or someone who is obviously only interested in you because of the profit you can generate for them?  Maybe, but most people would choose to do business with someone interested and engaged, and happy.