Professional Rules to Live by During Your Career
I have spent nearly a decade working in a large law firm, making mistakes and learning from them, growing as a lawyer and a person, and honing my reading, writing and communication skills. When I started, my firm offered essentially no guidance or mentorship and I stumbled a lot along the way, older lawyers I worked with were often unhelpful and destructive, and only a select few were willing to help me grow.
As my career moved forward a major goal of mine was to educate and mentor younger lawyers that came into the firm. I wanted them to flourish, not have to struggle for no reason like I did, be treated better than I was, and most importantly, be better lawyers than I am. In my opinion, a teacher or mentor can have no greater pleasure than seeing one’s students surpass them, knowing that your tutelage was essential to that growth and progress.
Over my career and much deliberation, I boiled down all that I had learned and experienced into five principles to remember for your entire career. I give this to new lawyers after their first week was completed. I encouraged them to not just read it but digest it and use it as a guidepost as their career moves forward in the hopes that my many years of experience can help them in what is a very stressful profession.
I offer this to you now, in whatever profession you are in, or even if you are still a student, and encourage you to take them as principles to live by during your career:
Always ask questions. There is always more to know and always things we do not understand. Always seek to learn more and never think you are “bothering” someone by asking them to explain something or get more information. A good lawyer or professional is always seeking to expand their knowledge. If you think you are the smartest person in the room, you are either wrong, or in the wrong room.
“I do not know” is an extremely valid answer and is very often the best answer, use it and do not be afraid to do so. Stating things we are unsure of is always more dangerous than admitting we do not know but we can find out:
A client or another professional cannot possibly expect you to know everything off the top of your head all at once, and if they do, they’re terribly misunderstanding of your field.
Richard Feynman once said that the best experts in the world are those who are willing to admit they don’t know the answer. Embrace that.
Always re-read your work and never be afraid to set it aside and come back to it. The work we do is complicated and extremely detail oriented, no one will, or expect that you will, get it perfect the first time:
Set things aside after you write them and come back to them hours or even a day later with fresh eyes, you will find mistakes you otherwise would not.
Remember, with good time management, there is time to set things aside. It is hard to tone down the voice saying “you must get out work product right away” but it is important to do so.
Change that internal voice to say “I need to get out high quality work product when it is ready”
Always ask for feedback and a clear timeline. This goes hand in hand with the above, have the person give you a clear timeline they need things by, then you know exactly what to prioritize and when:
This will help you effectively manage your time, so you aren’t feeling under the gun.
It also shows the other attorney you care. You want your work to get better and you want to make sure the work gets out on time.
If they can’t give you a timeline it must not be very important
“The client is the enemy.” Our clients are great at what they do, they are not great at we do, it is why we exist:
Clients will often omit items either on purpose or because they have no idea it’s important
They will also alter items to make it sound better and try to drive you into a conclusion they want to hear not a conclusion that is correct. Oftentimes a question driven by sympathy is the most dangerous and sometimes we have to be the bad guy and give the answer that is correct regardless of emotion, not the one that feels good.
This may sound pessimistic, but it will serve you well
I hope this helps you wherever you are in your career. If you want to talk, no matter where you are in your professional journey. Please reach out for a consultation.
