Microsoft has decided to use financial incentives to get law firms to increase their diversity. Nothing like using the pocketbook to change behavior! Ultimately, initiatives like this will help law firms become more diverse. But as we all know, change is slow in the legal profession so don’t hold your breath.
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”?
The Bush administration continues to provide us with numerous valuable career and crisis management lessons. The publication of What Happened , a tell all White House expose written by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, gives us some new examples.
First the career lesson: never speak ill of a current or former employer.
Scott McClellan is getting a quick lesson in this rule. On the same day that news of his book was released to the public, former and current Bush officials were covering the airwaves with a comprehensive attack on Scott McClellan. It’s too early to tell who will win the PR war; but clearly McClellan’s integrity has now been effectively challenged.
Similarly, while you may harbor serious misgivings about a former or current employer, think long and hard about whether you want to air these grievances publicly. An institution has better resources to get it’s message across. Is it really worth it to your career to have the satisfaction of getting your message out to the general legal community. This is particularly true in an interviewing situation. If you want to make a lateral move, talk about the positive attributes of the firm where you have the interview. Don’t badmouth your current firm.
Second: in a crisis, get everyone on the same page.
Regardless of what you think of Karl Rove or other former close advisors to the President, you have to give them credit for the skill they demonstrate in getting everyone on the same page. On the same day that the news broke about McClennan, Karl Rove, President’s Counsel Dan Bartlett and former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer were all commenting how “sad” this was and how this is not the Scott McClennan we knew.
While my own political inclinations would make me want to believe McClennan’s version of reality, this carefully orchestrated counterattack definitely made me consider whether McClennan is in fact a disgruntled former employee who is trying to profit from his experience.
As we enter a period of economic down turn and law firms need to consider the unpopular decision of laying off associates, they would do well to make sure the message that is put out to the public is a unified message. Speaking with a unified voice will at least give the firm a chance of minimizing the negative fallout of a layoff.
According to a new study, nearly 30 percent of all large firm associates fear losing their jobs. While this may be a bit higher than it might have been several years ago, I imagine that this statistic is par for the course. Large law firms are not known for doing a lot of hand holding; and in both good and bad times, associates often tell us that they do not get enough feedback and are therefore worried about their tenure.
But what if work really is slowing down? Are you really at risk of being fired? Take a look at an article my colleague Carey Bertolet wrote on the subject.
Furthermore, how should you spend your time when there is “nothing to do?” Here is a partial list of suggestions:
And if you really believe you are at risk of losing your job, start networking and job hunting. At the very worst you will gain more perspective on your current situation and learn something about the legal marketplace.
Ever wonder how mega law firms find work for all those partners and associates? An item in today’s New York Lawyer does a good job of explaining how it is possible to keep so many professionals employed under one roof (free subscription required). Apparently, Invitrogen, a manufacturer of test kits, chemicals and cells will acquire Applied Biosystem Inc. In order to consummate the deal, DLA Piper, Skadden Arps and Fried Frank each assembled their own armies (representing the buyer, seller and bank respectively.) In total, 52 lawyers were kept busy by the $6.4 billion stock and cash deal. But now that their work is done, what will they all do?
Like other businesses that compete for talent, law firms continue to add to their pool of benefits. Several firms have now begun to offer college coaching. This benefit is a way to assist busy lawyers who are trying to help their college bound children navigate the competitive field of college admissions.
But are better benefits the key to retaining talent? I’m sure that offering good benefits is one important way that firms compete for talent. But isn’t offering constructive feedback much more important? On-site day care is not going to keep an unhappy associate from pursuing a lateral move if she isn’t being managed properly. Providing college admissions guidance to a partner will not stop her from moving her portable book of business across the street if she does not feel that the firm is supporting her practice.
Playing in the “right” league can have a big impact on your career satisfaction. Before I elaborate, I wanted to share a quick story about my son, Ari.
Several months ago, I took Ari to his Little League tryout. Secretly, I was hoping for the worst. While I would have been proud if he could have been one of the few fifth graders to make it into the Majors in my town, I knew that he would have much more opportunity to play (and pitch) if he stayed in the Minors for another year.
As fate would have it, he had a good tryout; but several other fifth graders had a better tryout and Ari ended up playing AAA ball once again.
We are now in the post season and this father couldn’t be more thrilled. Ari has been a star on his team and yesterday, he drove in the winning (and only run.) He has also been given many opportunities this season to pitch.
The point of this story is not to brag about my son (though being the kid who was stuck in right field growing up, I must say that I’m very proud.) The point is to know which league suits you best. Do you fit in at a large firm? Does it feel right? Or maybe a smaller firm is a better environment for you. Does government seem like a place where you can shine amongst your peers? Perhaps in-house is where you can make the greatest contribution.
The Little League analogy is not perfect. I’m not trying to say that large law firms are the majors and everything else is minor league. Rather, I think it is important to know which is the best “league” for you and your career. That can change over time. So taking the time to reflect at least once a year is a good exercise.
I’ve been a member of Linked In for several years and I have yet to make use of it. I generally accept the invitations that I receive; but beyond that, I don’t do much. And I don’t think that I am alone in this.
On the other hand, I do believe that Linked In is reaching a tipping point where it can actually be quite useful. Users of the service have now increased their pool of contacts so that there truly is a lot of potential value in mining the information.
Yesterday, I had an interesting conversation about this with a partner at a boutique law firm. He has been a Linked In member since 2003. But it is only in the past 6 months that he has discovered that his contacts have contacts that he would like to reach.
He also gave me a few good tips about Linked In. First, he suggested that it is important to look at job titles. If you want to reach key decision makers in organizations, then find the contacts who are linked to “C” level employees (or partners if you are talking about professional service providers.) Or maybe more broadly, if you want to make a connection with someone, make sure you ask for an introduction from someone who has contacts at the “right” level in the organization. Second, he suggested that before asking a contact for an intro, ask the contact if he thinks the individual can be helpful (in whatever way you need help.)
If you enjoyed the post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed.
© 2008 TypeBased. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by WordPress. Design by 
