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JEAN LAWLER:
Hello, I'm Jean Lawler, welcome to the ROADS TO Resolution ~Closure and ~Certainty Podcast. As a mediator, I am honored to be invited into other people's lives for a few hours, like all of our lives, shaped by the many roads that have brought us to our “today”, leading to the unexpected, and to roads holding the promise of “tomorrow”.
Thank you for joining me today as we talk about the law as a profession. I’m often asked by people about being a lawyer. Is it something that I would recommend to someone who might be interested in the law? What about to young women? Lots of times there are, you know, questions there. I ,of course, would say wholeheartedly, if it's what you like to do, follow your passion, follow your dreams, but in that regard, let’s talk a little bit about that.
I do have a book here, that I turn to at times for inspiration, maybe, or if I’m giving a speech, I’ll take some nice quotes. It’s called, The Collected Legal Papers of Oliver Wendell Holmes. And Oliver Wendell Holmes was one of our esteemed Justices of the United States, and when he gave a speech on the law, here’s something that he said that I’ve referred to many times:
"What a subject is this in which we are united? This abstraction called “the law”. Wherein as in a magic mirror, we see reflected, not only our own lives, but the lives of all men that have been. When I think on this majestic theme, my eyes dazzle. We see the law daily not as anthropologists, not as students and philosophers, but as actors in a drama of which she is the providence and overruling power."
I just love those words, and it's so true that it's like you’re an actor in a drama, in a play. I’ve said before when I go into a courthouse, I still get the feeling after all these years, when I stand outside the door like I want to just straighten my shoulders and take a deep breath and think “wow, I’m an attorney, I’m an officer of the court, and I can go in, and I can make a difference in someone’s life, through this way, through the law.” There’s so many ways, of course, to make differences in people’s lives and everyone will follow their own path that way, but if your path happens to be the law, I’ve just a few thoughts of my own to add to those that I just read from Justice Holmes here.
You know, when you’re a young lawyer it seems me that your job–your goal–it should be to learn as much as you can. Volunteer for anything. Don’t be afraid. If you’re in litigation and you’re asked to take a deposition or to try your first trial, or to even summarize medical records, whatever it might be. Take it, seize that moment, seize the opportunity, because with every single opportunity you have that you seize, you will learn from it. And it is by doing that and learning from those opportunities that come along, learning from those situations, that you then progress in your chosen profession as a lawyer, and ultimately become the trusted advisor. That is really what the ultimate goal I think is for lawyers, certainly if you are advising clients.
There’s so many fields, of course, so I can’t speak for every field, but ultimately as a lawyer, you give advice, and only through experience can you be eventually in the position where your knowledge is such–and not just knowledge in sense of book knowledge, but knowledge in the sense of experience and reality-checks, and understanding consequences and what might happen if you do A, then is it going to be B, or will it be C, and how you can make things happen the way you might like them to happen, how you might be able to control things…So that’s my first thought here. As a young lawyer, you’ve gone through law school, you’ve presumably excelled, you’ve got a job. Fantastic, that’s great. Just embrace it and learn everything that you can.
You may or may not stay with that particular firm or company for your whole legal career. These days that’s certainly more the exception, probably, than the norm, but wherever you go along your path, embrace it, learn as much as you can. And know that you never stop learning. So that would really I suppose be that first takeaway. Never stop learning.
Now it’s one thing to know, you know, legal principles, or the law in a certain area, especially as the law evolves and as areas of the law evolve. There are things today that are in dispute that are in the law that require lawyers that didn’t even exist five, ten years ago. Think of currency, NFTs, some of the cyber issues. That’s the beauty of the law. It and areas of the law are always evolving, so you can do so many things. And if one area is not for you then find your area that fits for you.
But if you are in a field where you are reliant on clients for your work, then client development. I can’t overemphasize the necessity for lawyers to have good client development skills. And in many ways this is developing client trust in you, and so really take every opportunity when you consult with or talk to a client as being a marketing, a client opportunity. And you don’t have to think of it as marketing, just think of it as great client service. It will follow. But ultimately if you are in a law firm and you intend to progress in the law firm, maybe become a partner in the law firm, client development is a skillset that you will need to develop, and so do it. Make it something that is part of your plan.
And then ultimately, I would say join professional associations. Give back. Giving back, making a difference in the lives of others, that’s just so gratifying. And as you grow and develop as a lawyer, you will see this, and you will feel it, and so whatever your areas are in the law, and as you may give back, then, know that you are in a special and unique position as a lawyer to be able to do that. And so wherever the law takes you, I do wish you the best. Just remember that you are among others who’ve come before you, and others will be coming behind you. No one gets to where they are just by themselves. You stand on the shoulders of others, and so reach down, pull others up, and be grateful for those who came before.
And so thank you so much for listening to me today. Please join me again on the ROADS TO Resolution ~Closure and ~Certainty Podcast. I’ll look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks so much. Bye bye.
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