How do I become a good lawyer?
- Be confident in your abilities.
- Seek out training.
- Find a mentor.
- Observe other attorneys.
- Stay organized.
- Provide client centered representation.
- Maintain work-life balance.
- Think outside the box.
- Know your courts.
- Build relationships.
New lawyers are entering a scary world that law school never prepared them for. Forget the law. It is overwhelming to manage clients, opposing counsel, judges, and all the other players in the system. I hope that some of these tips will help set you up for success as a new lawyer!
Tip #1 Be Confident In Your Abilities!
How do I become a good lawyer if no one will give me a chance?
One of the biggest challenges new lawyers face on a daily basis is being a new lawyer! Senior counsel may not treat you with the respect you deserve. Your clients may be wary of your inexperience. And judges and clerks certainly don’t know you enough to gain favorable treatment.
You need to remember that just because you are a new lawyer, does not mean that you are any less of a lawyer than everyone else! You went to law school, just like everyone else. You passed the bar, just like everyone else. And you earned your job, just like everyone else.
To become a good lawyer, you must be confident in your abilities!
Tip #2 Seek Out Training
All things being equal, while you have so much to offer as a new lawyer, you also have a lot to learn. Law schools don’t always prepare you for your actual legal career. You need to learn the ropes!
Hopefully, your public defender agency has a robust training program or are connected to Gideon’s Promise.
Whether or not your State had a yearly continuing legal education (CLE) requirement, you need to be on the lookout for CLE’s that address issues in criminal practice.
You should also consider joining the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Their monthly publication, “The Champion” has a lot of useful articles and practice tips.
To become a good lawyer, you must be willing to learn!
Tip #3 Find A Mentor
Part of becoming a good lawyer is finding a mentor. This advice really applies across all professions, but it is especially important in the practice of law.
Your mentor will help show you how to conduct client meetings and how to handle different types of personalities that will come into your office. Mentors will teach you the ins and outs of practice and will also help you learn the ropes in court.
Tip #4 Observe Other Attorneys (Inside and Outside of Court)
Which side of the court do I stand on? Do I stand at counsel table when questioning witnesses? Do I ask permission to approach the witness on every occasion? How do I object during openings and closings? How are exhibits marked? How do I conduct juror voir dire? What is it like cross-examining a cop or a sexual assault victim?
The answers to these, and so many other practice questions, will not be found in a textbook. As a new lawyer, you will be doing a lot of “on the job” training. It is what makes a being a new lawyer so daunting.
But it doesn’t all have to be trial by fire. In court, you will be surrounded by dozens of talented, and some not so talented, lawyers. Watch and learn!
Observe what works and what doesn’t. What do you like about a particular lawyer’s style? What don’t you like? Slowly, you will develop your own unique style of advocacy.
It is also important to observe attorneys outside of court. How do others conduct client meetings? How do they communicate with their clients? How do they get their clients to trust and communicate with them?
One of the best ways to learn from other attorneys is to co-counsel cases. Co-counseling a case with a senior attorney, whether or not the case goes to trial, provides an invaluable learning experience. If you have an opportunity to sit second chair with a senior attorney, do it. It adds to your workload, but the experience is invaluable.
Tip #5 Stay Organized
If you are not organized, your work will suffer. If your work suffers, your clients will suffer. This is especially the case if you are a public defender with a heavy caseload.
In the beginning of your practice you may get lulled into a false sense of security. Sure, you have some loose filing, but you can catch up later. Sure, you have a few voicemails waiting for you, but you can listen to them after dinner. But then, it hits.
You have 80-100 cases. You can’t see your desk because of all the paper piled up. You have 20 voicemails, a few are duplicates from angry clients who you haven’t called back. And what’s worse is that you have no time to play catch up because suddenly your caseload has shot through the roof!
Disorganization creates a vicious cycle. Don’t fall victim to it!
You ask, “how do I become a good lawyer?” I say start developing good habits early. From the time you have five cases, until the time when you have 100.
As with Tip #4, don’t hesitate to speak with other attorneys in your office (who’s desks you can see). What tips do they have to stay organized? What do they wish they had done when they were a new lawyer?
Tip #6 Provide Client Centered Representation
What is client centered representation? In short, it is legal representation that seeks to meet the client’s legal and non-legal goals.
As counsel, your job is not to decide what is best for the client and implement it. It is not your job to decide what the client needs. Client centered representation means that it is your job to help the client identify their needs and goals, and then take steps, within the rules, to achieve those goals.
Client centered representation doesn’t mean you don’t give your client advice or your opinion. Naturally, if a client says they want to just plead to a felony and do some time, you should chime in with your thoughts on that goal. Client centered representation means that you involve your client in the decision making process. Remember, your client is the most important member of the defense team!
As an attorney, especially one with a large caseload, it can be hard to provide client centered representation. It takes more time and effort. But in the end, it is what is best for your client and your practice. (There will be a separate post in the near future focusing just on client centered representation).
Tip #7 Maintain Work-Life Balance
Some people will tell you to forget having a work-life balance as a new lawyer. Not true!
This is one of the most difficult tasks ahead of you as a lawyer. It is also something you will have to constantly revisit. The job will consume you. That’s a fact.
You will find yourself constantly worrying about your clients. You will always have work to do. Discovery to review, motions to write, letters to send out to clients and opposing counsel, voicemails to return, new appellate decisions to read. It never ends.
The fact that the work never ends is a good reminder that sometimes you just need to switch off. It’s a lot easier said than done, and I am the worst offender when it comes to losing that balance, but it is important to constantly work at.
When you are home with your family, be present. Leave your phone at the door. Leave your laptop and case files there as well.
If you don’t come home to a family yet, spend some time with yourself. Whether it’s vegging out on the couch and catching up on our soaps, reading a book (not related to your job!), go for a run, cook a meal, whatever it is you do to relieve stress and unwind.
Yes, there will be late nights. There will be weekends in the office. But that cannot be maintained 365 days a year. You must make space between your job and your personal life.
If you are workaholic and remain unconvinced, just remember, if you don’t take care of yourself, your practice will suffer. And if your practice suffers, those clients you are torturing yourself over each night will also suffer! So…not working every night and weekend will actually benefit your clients.
Tip #8 Think Outside The Box
You are going to get cases where you may have no defense, or perhaps your client seems to have no mitigating facts to present to the court. Do not despair! Where there is a will, there is a way.
I am a firm believer that every charge has a defense (even if not a strong one) and every client has redeeming characteristics (humanizing those who society has dehumanized is a big part of your job!). Grab another attorney, or two or three, and go into a conference room for a brainstorming session. Find your angle!
Tip #9 Know Your Court
Of all my 10 tips for new lawyers, this is one of the most important. Know your court!
But what does it mean to “know your court?” It means that you understand the culture. You understand how the judges likes to run court. You understand what the clerks like, and more importantly, what they do not like.
Knowing your court also means knowing how the judges like to run their courtroom, what types of arguments they receive well, and what they do not receive well. For example, one judge I go before does not consider comparable sentences when determining what to sentence your client to. Absent having an empirical study that has been peer reviewed, all you will hear is “move on counselor.” Another judge absolutely HATES when a defendant’s children come to court.
So, understand how the court operates and do some homework on your local judges! If a visiting judge comes from another court, reach out to attorneys that practice before that visiting judge.
Tip #10 Build Relationships
Understanding the culture of a local court is not enough, You need to build relationships with everyone inside the building too.
You should want to build relationships with the clerks, bailiffs, and stenographers. Not because they will make your life easier, though they will when they can. You should build relationships with these good people because they are in many respects, you co-workers.
No, they are not a part of your firm, but you see them on a daily basis. and your work and their work flow together at many points. Take the time to get to know them.
I hope you find this information, as well as the rest of my practice tips for new lawyers, helpful. Please feel free to comment on this with any suggestions or questions.
