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How to ace your first year of legal practice (for the woman private law firm associate attorney)
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Owning it!Your first year of practice and beyond
2011 Ms. JD Conference Southwestern Law School
• Very narrow window of time to get pulled into the network
• Women not picked up as quickly as their male counter-parts
• Women dropped more quickly than their male counter-parts– Superiors afraid of
giving women feedback
– Superiors afraid of hurting women’s feelings
Challenges for Women
Helping the harried partner
Behind every accusation is a cry for
You represent the client
• Assume no intermediary• To seem confident, you
must be confident• To leverage everyone’s
talents and experience, be willing to change your position
• To serve your client best, defend your position until someone convinces you that you’re wrong
Own the problem/be the solution/ask for feedback
Think horizontally
Your partner is the coach and you are the player; s/he wants you to win
The answer is always “yes”
• Yes, you can win that motion• Yes, but not with that motion• Yes, if we characterize the facts
differently• Yes, if we convince the judge to
expand the law • Yes but here are the problems with
our position • Yes and here are some potential
solutions to those problems• If have to say no, display that
you’ve given serious thought to getting around the negative reply
I can do that!!
• Stride in• Introduce yourself (hand shake) to
anyone you don’t know• Make eye contact• Choose the best available seat• Brief small talk • Restate the question• Say what you did to answer it• Answer the question
– We have an excellent chance of prevailing if . . .
– We have the following problems– The client should understand that . . . – We need to learn more about this . . .
• Apologize • Tip-toe into the room• Stare at the floor• End your sentences on
upswing . . . ??????• Limply shake my hand• Um, like, y’know • I think, I guess, I believe . . . . . • Admit defeat right away• Make excuses• De-value yourself
Failing
• Ask for advice/give up too soon • Stay inside the lines• Miss a deadline • Argue instead of problem solve
• Be unable to answer follow up questions• Be unable to back up opinion when partner
disagrees with you• Give up your position too easily• Refuse to give up your position/see other side• Say “oh yeah, I didn’t think of that; sorry”• Cry
10 more ways to fail
You are not a widget
And no one wants you to
be