It’s About That Time…

It is once again that time of the year when I bow my head down and take a short moment of silence for the downtrodden, the weary, the desperate, the July Bar examinee. Although I have tried to suppress the memory of the dreadful three days when I too suffered through that little test, every time I step into Starbucks some poor schmo hunched over his BarBri books forces me to remember.

What’s funny is, it really wasn’t that bad. Before you scoff, hear me out. Yes, the test is miserable, but, then again, so is law school. We all suffered through three years of that, so surely we can bear three months. What makes BarBri sightings painful for me is how awfully I reacted to the entire experience. I went absolutely ape. Since I was basically in the bottom 10 percent of my law school class in terms of stress, my sudden madness was quite a shock to all my law school friends. I’m sure they wondered what demon possessed me. Recently I’ve even tried to underplay how badly I handled the experience with my friends. They are all nice people, but none of my friends will let me pass my off behavior off as “just a little stressed.” They even wince a little when forced to recall my monster self.

Why on earth did I react that way? Sure, everyone was more than a little stressed, but I took it to a new level. I don’t know anyone else who engaged in extemporaneous bawlings every day or became a full-fledged insomniac. Truth is, I don’t know why I overreacted. What I do know is this: no test on the planet is worth that amount of grief. At base, it’s a TEST. We’ve all had them before. It is longer and there is more on the line, but no one should forget that they have been doing this test-taking thing for a long time. Don’t make it more than it is. Attaching too much significance to the Bar exam will only serve to trip you up.

What’s the worst thing that can happen? Remember, I said no scoffing. Yeah, yeah, you might have to take the darn thing again. Yeah, that stinks. However, I know several people who had to re-take the Bar exam, and they all have “Esquire” following their names now. Some of them even enjoy being attorneys. Above all, remember this. There are a lot of attorneys out there. They can’t all be brilliant (I assure you they are not. As a practicing attorney, I remember frequently feeling compelled to ask to see someone’s Bar card). If they can do it, so can you.

Happy 4th of July!

I love all holidays and 4th of July is no exception. I don’t have any major plans for the day in fact, I have no plans at all. Still, I can’t help but get a bit sappy when I think about what it means to celebrate the 4th of July. While not a perfect nation, we are all lucky to be Americans.

And, on this day, I find myself thinking about all the lawyers in this great country. We should all be honored to be part of the legal profession in America. Lawyer jokes aside, lawyering is an honored profession. We are experts–depended upon when the stakes are high and the issues are complex.

Throughout my time as a lawyer and now as a recruiter, I have encountered countless individuals with outstanding accomplishments and amazing intellectual ability. On the whole, lawyers are an amazing group of people and some of the most respected individuals in history.

Thus, on this 4th of July holiday, I’d like to encourage all lawyers out there to reflect on the years of hard work and commitment that it took to get you where you are today. Go ahead, pat yourself on the back (just don’t let anyone see you doing it!). Your job may not be perfect; billable hours may have your stress levels at an all time high; and your client may be driving you nuts! But don’t lose sight of the fact that the work you do is always important to someone and no matter what type of practice you are in, someone has placed their trust in you and is depending on you to solve a problem that is probably keeping them awake at night. Be proud of your profession.

Happy 4th of July!

How to answer the “what do you want to make?” question

A number of my partner-level and counsel-level candidates loathe the “What do you want to make?” question. Associates at large firms typically don’t have to worry about this issue because of the lockstep compensation.

Like many types of negotiation, I believe the best advice is to never throw out the first number.

So how do you handle that uncomfortable moment when the firm asks, “So, what are you hoping to make?” You can simply respond along the lines of, “Well, I’m actually hoping to take your lead here. I’m looking for fair compensation based on my market value, which I’m still in the process of figuring out [if relevant, add 'with a number of firms']. But with regard to your firm, I imagine you’re in the best position to determine how I would best fit into your compensation structure.”

And if you want to end with a joke to lighten the mood, say something like, “How’s that for a gentle deflection?”

Have a great 4th of July weekend!

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Feeling bored at work? Is the thrill gone? Maybe it is time to get out of your comfort zone and try something new. Maybe what you need are some new challenges. That’s the advice in Career Journal.

As a practicing lawyer, the new challenge may simply be working on a new type of transaction or litigation. Perhaps the new challenge for you is writing some articles, speaking before industry groups, developing a new area of expertise or building relationships with potential referral sources (all steps in building a practice, something my colleague Suzanne Howe wrote about yesterday.)

But the new challenge can also be something larger like pursuing a lateral move to a firm that has a different kind of work. Maybe getting out of your comfort zone means taking on a combined business and legal role for a corporation.

So what are you doing to get “out of the zone”?