Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Skills Students Need to Learn

Joseph H. Brown, the author of Student2Solo, has a new blog post about 2 things students should do while they're in school in order to prepare for solo practice. The post is great, and offers two great suggestions, especially that students get familiar with trial practice (a course I wish I would have taken). I'd like to add my two-cents to the conversation, and follow up on one of my earlier posts.

I'm an especially big proponent of the "3rd Year Intern" program. I don't know of any school that's implementing it, but I believe a 3rd year spent working at a law firm, instead of in a classroom, would better-prepare students for law practice in general. The concept is easy: students work as unpaid interns at law firms (preferably solo or small firms), and in turn receive course credit for their employment. It's a win-win for both sides (which I doubt that schools would go for because of their overwhelming disdain for solo practice.) Working for an attorney/law firm is significantly more important than learning about working.

I try to hire interns to come perform tasks and learn about law firm practice. One of the common questions I get from my interns, and from others, is "how will I ever learn all this?" My simple answer is that you take the time. This is especially important when you're discussing things like trust accounts, business operations, and daily operations. Unfortunately, because you never learned how to properly manage a trust account (although you're drilled about the consequences of mismanagement) in law school, you must hire someone, or consult your bar association's management assistance program to get the proper information.

Like Joseph, I suggest students also focus on practical courses, like trial practice, bankruptcy, and legal writing, as opposed to the recommended cadre of "bar prep courses." Although these aren't completely functional courses, they will give you a glimpse of some real world events, especially if they're taught by adjuncts who are practicing attorneys.

Finally, students should learn and practice communication skills. Since verbal and written communication are everyday necessities in a law firm, you must improve and perfect your communication. Volunteer to write briefs, memos, or other documents for an attorney, and learn from his/her criticism. Take opportunities to present speeches and other verbal presentations to improve your delivery skills. You may even consider joining local speech groups or organizations for assistance.

Whether you're looking to mint yourself as a solo attorney, or as a BigLaw brat, possessing the basic skills and knowledge to function as an attorney will help you achieve your success. You can do it, but it takes patience, practice, and work.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Backup Plan

Folks, I don't think the economy is improving, at least for lawyers. I think we're still in a tight market, and we should expect to see more of those "cushy" jobs start vanishing. There's a post at The AmLaw Daily that shows the legal services sector lost jobs in February. 2,900 to be exact. 

If you're one of those sitting in a comfortable cubicle office, you need to look closely at these types of reports. This is a scary statistic that could effect everyone. I talked about planning for a "cut back," and still believe it's as important as ever to develop your backup plan. Quite simply, how would you cope if you lost your job today?

Friday, March 4, 2011

How Much Do Lawyers Make?

The ABA Journal teamed up with  William D. Henderson of the Center on the Global Legal Profession at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law, to study and report on the wages for lawyers throughout the United States. I think this is an admirable response to a lot of uproar regarding "the lying law schools," but I believe, as some of the comments suggest that this still isn't reporting the true nature of the legal profession. The biggest flaw of the study: "Equity partners and solo practitioners are not included in the survey." Oops.

I think this flaw over-exaggerates the numbers. Sure, I guess if my goal is BigLaw, government, or in-house, these figures should bring some comfort. However, if you're a solo practitioner or equity partner (why isn't BigLaw complaining?) you're screwed. The fact is, there's still a larger portion of the legal profession that is unrepresented in the study. As one commenter states, "The ABA bothers to show this because they want the media to pick it up - they want a counter to all the bad press law schools have been getting, and this gets the fuzzy idea, 'Oh hey, lawyers DO make a lot of money' out there in the world again. It’s an attempt to keep the bubble growing and obfuscate the truth - that law school is a bad investment for almost all students who take out taxpayer backed loans to attend."

Some of the surprising information for me gleaned from the study:  Reno, NV and El Paso, TX, have "unusually" high salaries for relatively small metro markets. Perhaps, if you desire to become an attorney, you should relocate to Huntsville, AL, where lawyers earn $125,000, and the market is small 440 (is that a typo?). Also, isn't the "hot spot" graphic nice? I guess there won't be a rush of lawyer to Montana, North Dakota, or Northern Maine.