Stages of Life: Non-Attorney to Attorney to Recruiter

This weekend, I had the opportunity to revisit my pre-law school life. Between college and law school, I took four years off to live in Boston and D.C. and work for a nonprofit organization. It was that experience that ultimately led me to a career in tax and corporate law. It was incredible to become acquainted with the girl I was before law school and my law practice took over my life. I visited with old friends today who have never heard me talk about bar exams, billable hours, due diligence trips, merger agreements, etc. It was fascinating!

Life wasn’t better then – but it was surely different and less busy!

My friends and acquaintances will tell you that I am not a philosophical person. But, I believe that, as attorneys, our common experiences bond us. For this reason, I generally recommend that associates and partners work with a recruiter who was a practicing attorney (whether or not a BCG recruiter) – with, of course, a few exceptions. I think that former attorneys can bring an interesting perspective to our work as recruiters gained through many hours of one-the-job training (and schooling!) We’ve been there!

Personally, I enjoy speaking with attorneys who remain in practice – especially my fellow BigLaw tax and corporate attorneys. And I have a big soft spot for my fellow Fordham Law alums! I have sat in your seat – and feel incredibly qualified to help you craft the career that you want.

More on LinkedIn

I know that I have previously been exposed as a LinkedIn evangelist! I cannot say enough positive things about the potential for connectivity that LinkedIn provides. It is like the rolodex of the 1980s but completely souped up! (The photo at right is a tiny part of my LinkedIn network.)

Here is a Wall Street Journal article on LinkedIn. It has just received funding from VCs and it is here to stay. Venture capitalists have currently valued the business at $1B. It’s the business version of Facebook.

Interesting facts:

• Average user’s age is 41 and income of $109K+.
• Many people (including me!) have both LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. LinkedIn for work and Facebook for fun!

I definitely urge you to check it out!

Can Experience as a Patent Prosecutor Benefit a New Attorney?

Before entering law school next fall, I will have a year of high-tech patent prosecution experience as a patent engineer.  How much will this experience benefit me when seeking an IP/Patent associate position with the big firms?  Can it make up for not being at the top of my law school class or not being from a top 25 law school?

Your experience as a high-tech patent prosecutor will certainly strengthen your application and should compensate for the fact that you have not graduated from a top 25 law school or at the top of your law school class.  Patent prosecution attorneys are typically in high demand, and the pool of attorneys with the appropriate technical background is small.  Your background will likely make you eligible to sit for and increase your chances of successfully completing the Patent Bar.

Attorneys with scientific undergraduate or graduate degrees are highly in demand in the Intellectual Property arena.  Moreover, attorneys with technical expertise in certain scientific fields are far more likely to obtain employment as a patent attorney than those without such expertise.  As a result, the pool of potential candidates for patent positions is particularly small.  To top that off, your technical experience as a patent engineer will provide you with the technical know-how to understand the technical intricacies of patent prosecution, infringement and negotiating and drafting tech-related licensing agreements and briefs.  This puts you at an advantage over many of your law school classmates.

While there are certainly differences that could be pointed out, for the most part the expertise of patent attorneys falls into the following categories: (1) the life sciences, (2) chemistry & pharmaceutical, (3) material science, (4) electrical engineering, (5) physics, (6) mechanical engineering, (7) medical devices, (8) computer science.  In terms of demand, the greatest demand is for attorneys with backgrounds in electrical engineering or computer science. There is also a strong demand for attorneys with biotechnology, biochemistry or organic chemistry backgrounds.  The lesser demand is for those with mechanical or chemical backgrounds.

The fact that you appear to have both a technical degree and a patent prosecution background, when coupled with a law degree, makes you a unique and highly desirable candidate for law firms.  While there are certainly many people who graduate each year with technical and science degrees, very few of these people may have any interest in attending law school because there is usually a good market available for these individuals, even without a law degree.  Therefore, you will be a fairly unusual commodity with a law degree.  Additionally, the demand for patent attorneys is compounded by the fact that the need for patents has continually increased dramatically.  For example, a recent article in the Legal Times stated that the number of patents issued each year has increased 30-40% since 1990.  During the same period of time, the number of software patents increased by approximately 200%.

It is important to mention, one of the reasons your background is valuable is that it makes you eligible to sit for the Patent Bar.  In order to even sit for the Patent Bar, an applicant needs prior scientific or technical level training at the Bachelor’s degree level in a science or engineering field (or significant college credits in one of these fields).  Assuming you have the requisite training to qualify to take the Patent Bar, you must also pass it, and the pass rate for the patent bar exam is much lower than for most bar exams – it typically ranges from 28% to 40%. In the 1996 exam, for example, 968 people passed, and 1794 failed.  Your engineering background and prior patent prosecution background will certainly help your chances of completing the exam successfully.  Once you pass the Patent Bar, you will have all the elements in place to have a successful law firm career.

I did notice that your question assumes that you will not be at the top of your class in law school, even though you haven’t started.  Although you will likely be a marketable attorney, graduating at or near the top of your class will dramatically improve your opportunities with top-tier firms.  I strongly encourage you to focus on your performance in law school.  Although you may still be quite successful without stellar grades, graduating at the bottom of your class may be a significant hurdle for your success, especially with respect to opportunities early on.

In conclusion, it seems as though you have all the pieces you need to begin law school and do well throughout your career.  I recommend that you focus on your grades, and pay careful attention to the firms that have an Intellectual Property practice, especially those that offer summer associate internships.  One of the best ways to make inroads with a firm is to take a summer associate position, so that you will be in the pool of law students from which they choose full-time associates.  We wish you the best of luck!

My Advice to Recruiters About Resumes and Cover Letters

General Resumes and Cover Letters

The resume and cover letter are among the most effective of the tools an attorney can market themselves with. Our goal at Legal Authority is to ensure that the resume and cover letter are as effective as possible. In order to make our resumes and cover letters as good as they should be, we must be as consistent as possible in the methodology with which they are created.

Nevertheless, it is important to realize that the resume and cover letter are uniquely personal to the individual. In each interaction with a candidate, we should look for three strengths the candidate has and seek to bring these out in the cover letter (if possible). Everyone has selling points, and our most challenging job is to find these. I will speak more about this in future correspondence.

The most important components of the procedure are (1) KEEPING IT SIMPLE; and (2) REMEMBERING THE “GOLDEN RULE”— GRAMMAR, SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION MUST BE PERFECT.

The only way we can be effective with the resumes and cover letters is to keep them simple. By looking for three strengths in each candidate, we can ensure that they are doing their best to sell themselves. We need to remember that the most important service we can provide is to ensure that our candidates use perfect punctuation, grammar, and language in their resume. We can (1) bring out their strengths, but (2) cannot do much to modify the pasts of our candidates. Accordingly, it is important to ensure that our candidates make a flawless resume

RESUME GUIDELINES

1. IF IT IS NOT BROKE-DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX IT.

Some resumes are simply fine as they are. They do not always need to be fixed. Trying to fix resumes which do not need work simply slows down production and the candidate’s job search.

2. IF IT IS NOT BROKE-PRAISE IT.

Many people go through life without hearing much praise. This is especially true in the legal profession where the very nature of the work invites constant criticism from professors, employers and clients. If the resume is good—tell the candidate it is. Tell the candidate the advantages of having a good resume and how this will ensure they get their materials faster. People will like you.

3. IF IT NEEDS WORK, SIMPLIFY IT BY FINDING THREE STRENGTHS WITH THE RESUME AND URGING THE CANDIDATE USE THESE AS “SELLING POINTS”.

Because a resume is a summary of someone’s life accomplishments, people can become overly verbose and descriptive with their resumes. In the legal profession, in general, employers want to know:

A. Where you have worked;

B. What your academic qualifications are; and

C. What makes you unique:

i. Why the person is unique (Reason 1)

ii. Why the person is unique (Reason 2)

iii. Why the person is unique (Reason 3)

This list could be expanded upon; however, that is essentially all employers care about. People cannot do much to change either “A” or “B”. The only thing they really have control over when you speak with them is Reason “C”. Long and overly obtuse descriptions in Reasons “A” and “B” are not necessary unless they are furthering one of the three selling points in reason “C”.

4. STANDARD FORMAT FOR MOST RESUMES.

A. Contact Information-name, address, telephone, email.

B. Education (if the person has been out less than five years-if not, invert “B” and “C”)-law school, followed by college. If special honors were received in school, the resume should note this.

C. Experience-the most recent job first, followed by other positions. Only legal positions should be listed if person has been out of law school at least five years. Describe (1) name and location of employer, (2) title, and (3) two to three line description of experience.

D. Optional-Interests section, bar admissions. For attorneys with experience, an attachment describing significant transactions or cases worked on is a good idea.

COVER LETTER GUIDELINES

The main guidelines for writing cover letters is similar to the resume writing pattern

STANDARD FORMAT FOR COVER LETTERS

Law Student (numbers are paragraphs)

1. Contact Information-from whom and to whom.

Expression of Interest in an Interview (Optional-Reason 1,2 or 3).

(Optional) Education-description of educational qualifications (Optional-Reason 1, 2 or 3).

(Optional) Description of Experience-Legal related job experience (Optional-Reason 1, 2 or 3)

(Optional) Why have certain geographic preferences. (Optional-Reason 1, 2, or 3)

(Optional) Closing-rehash of elements used above.

B. Experienced Attorney

1. Information

2. Expression of Interest in an Interview (Optional-Reason 1, 2 or 3)

3. Experience-one paragraph of most relevant recent and past experience (Optional-Reason 1, 2 or 3)

4. (Optional) Educational Experience (Optional-Reason 1, 2 or 3)

5. (Optional) Why Seeking New Position (Optional-Reason 1, 2 or 3)

6. Closing-rehash of elements used above, rehash of elements above

The Best Way to Prepare for a Job Search and Interviews

Several years ago when looking for a position in Los Angeles I interviewed with numerous law firms.  In virtually every one of these interviews I ran across an attorney who knew not one, not two, not three—but numerous, numerous attorneys in my current firm.  If this is the case in a market the size of Los Angeles (and the market in Los Angeles is huge), I cannot even imagine what it must be like in smaller markets.  For example, I am from Detroit.  I grew up in  a suburb of Detroit.  When it came time for me to decide where to work in law school, when I started interviewing with firms in Detroit I knew many of the attorneys before I even arrived at the interviews–they were the parents of people I grew up with.

The following are my suggestions for the best way to prepare for a job search and interviews:

1. Know you are always being watched, observed and judged

When I was in high school I remember that one of the best looking girls in my school was known to be a prude and someone who would date boys but never let anything all that exciting happen.  She was also a star athlete and a student counsel leader and a very respected student.  My parents were divorced and lived about an hour apart.  I lived with my father.  The funny thing is that this same girl also had parents who were divorced and spent a lot of time in one city visiting a parent.  The funny thing about this girl was she had the exact opposite reputation in the city where she did not live full time.  Her strategy it seemed, like the strategy of many, was to have two separate personas.  She knew that if she behaved one way in her school and around people there she would experience fall out.  She also knew that by keeping her “wild side” in another town this would not affect her directly in her own back yard.

In life we are always being observed.  We are being observed in our communities.  We are being observed in our jobs.  We are being observed by our peers.  We are being observed by our superiors.  There are a lot of people out there who understand that.  The smart woman discussed above certainly understood that (albeit, in a different context).

When I went to look for a job in Detroit, despite the fact that I had not spent time in the city since high school I already knew which firms I would likely get jobs in and which ones I likely would not.  This had nothing to do with the prestige of the firm-it had to do with the people inside the firms.  I knew that I had been close to certain people growing up and their parents like me.  I also knew that I had not been close with others and had made some enemies along the way.  Sure enough, when I started applying for jobs in Detroit I was preceded by my past.  The Detroit legal community is small enough that most people know one another.

In everything you do in the public arena you are likely being observed, watched and judged.  The people you need today will likely have some impact over events that may happen to you tomorrow.  It is as simple as that.  Like the woman discussed above, you need to do everything you can to maintain a strong public face at all costs.

One thing about interviewing in law firms is that there will likely almost always be someone there you have known from a time before.  That person will likely have a say in what is happening to you in your new position.  Be aware of this and you will be preparing for interviews every second of every day.

2. Remember that the best lawyers can spot other good lawyers and you cannot “fake it”-you are always preparing for interviews just by doing a good job with your current work

There are many people out there who go to work in jobs and for whatever reason are not challenged.  Most often the people who claim they are not challenged are the same people who go out of the way to not challenge themselves.  We all know the type of person who does not challenge themselves in the job.  These are the sorts of people always looking for shortcuts and other methods to do as little work as possible.  I have never understood this sort of person-but they are there.  This sort of person is also the same one who is likely to be very defensive when asked about something they do not know but think they should know-”oh, I already know that!” they will say.

When you are good at something and really doing your job you have the tendency to get “immersed” in your subject matter.  Over time the subject matter and its intricacies and innuendos becomes almost second nature to the good student.  You also become more astute and a level or presumed understanding emerges between people who understand the subject matter well.  Little tidbits and other bits of understanding emerge.  Two people who are very good at something share a similar understanding.

When you are interviewing with a truly excellent lawyer, they will also be able to tell if you share this level of understanding.  If you are a slacker and not a hard worker, or someone who does not consistently challenge their mind, they will see right through this.  This level of understanding is particularly important at the higher levels.  You need to always be working hard and doing good legal work even when you may not want to make long-term plans to be at your current firm.  This is essential.

3. You need to go into your job with a sincere and 100% desire to make it work and switch jobs infrequently-if at all

Until the 1980s, the majority of workers in America and in law firms rarely changed jobs-if at all.  One of the major changes that happened was when the Japanese started importing cheaper and better cars into the United States.  American car makers (a major industry at the time) could no longer afford to be as loyal to their employees and mass firings and layoffs became increasingly commonplace.  Furthermore, pensions were fairly rapidly phased out at most companies in favor of 401ks-because employees began to be more “portable” in their jobs.  Much of the changes that were occurring in corporate America soon found themselves into law firms and other legal hiring organizations.

Despite that fact that attorneys can switch jobs at a whim in the current economic climate, switch jobs is not always the smartest thing to do.  Young lawyers (especially) like to feel as if they are in control and more valued by their employers than they value them.  In addition, young attorneys are likely to move for a slight bump in salary, an attorney in the firm they do not like, or some other trivial sort of factor.

These are not good reasons to move.  In fact, there are few good reasons to leave most legal employers.  The best reason and the only reason is if there is something inside your current firm that is so endemic to the firm and so pervasive that unless you leave your career will never go forward.  These factors also should be near 100% beyond your control.  When you join an employer it is much like getting married.  If you show a lot of commitment to your current employer you will be respected if you have to leave due to factors outside of your control.

The reason all of this is important is because the person interviewing you wants to trust you.  If the person or organization interviewing you does not trust you and believes you may leave for a trivial reason then they are will be unlikely to hire you.  If your reason for leaving is sound and the next firm who hires you believes you are likely to remain on board in the face of adversity then they are more likely to hire you.  People want to have people with staying power in their organizations.  No organization is perfect and all organizations go through ups and downs.

Conclusions
In everything you do-both inside and outside of work-you are always preparing for your job search and interviews.  You need to remember that the time to prepare for interviews and a job search is before you ever know you will need to prepare.  Being a good attorney and a job searcher is something that takes the same amount of time and effort to achieve.