You’ve finished your law degree. You’ve breezed through practical legal training. You’ve signed the roll of solicitors. At last, the day you’ve worked years for has come – you’re a lawyer. So, what next? How do you translate all those years of hard-learned law into a successful legal career?
It’s one of the most asked questions we get here at the College of Law. So, in response, here’s a selection of our top 10 tips to help you succeed your legal career.
1. Learn by observing
Not all learning is book smarts. Study has carried you this far, and whatever your grades are, it’s the main metric by which you received your law degree. What comes next is less structured and more subtle. Alongside active and prescribed structured learning - like the CPD you need to complete, short courses, or postgraduate study - your career will be defined by observing and reflecting on what you see daily.
For example, how do you respond to conflict? You’re in law, so conflict is your business. You might have a negotiation turn tense and insulting. You might find the distraught ex-partner of a family law client turning up at your practice. You might have a client lose, and despite doing your best, they hurl vitriol as they refuse to pay costs. How you respond won’t be taught in any textbook or tested in any subject.
Observe how your leaders and colleagues respond and reflect on what worked - and what you’d rather avoid. Adopt what you admire. Adapt and evolve as required.
2. Seek a range of mentors
Finding an experienced lawyer who can guide you is important. A mentor can answer questions, provide career advice, and offer a sounding board for complex situations. Look for someone who inspires you in your practice area or beyond.
Just as important is seeking guidance from a diverse group. Lawyers can offer invaluable legal expertise, but mentors from technology/innovation, or your clients' industries can provide fresh perspectives. They'll equip you to understand the evolving legal landscape, navigate technological advancements impacting law, and better serve your clients as you understand their industry's specific needs. This well-rounded support system will empower you to become a more adaptable and future-proof lawyer.
3. Ask good questions
No lawyer starts their career knowing all the answers. The key is to ask good questions which reflect the fact that you have attempted to research and find the answer for yourself. A mentor can be an ideal person to whom you could pose career or legal questions; as mentor relationships can exist independently of your workplace, it can be a safe space to ask what might seem like foolish questions. Mentors are also an excellent source of contacts, and more importantly agreed to be your mentor because they are passionate about your progress. Formal mentoring programs can exist within a law firm, or as part of your local legal professional body. However, you can also form your own mentor relationships – if you meet someone you find inspiring, approach them! The worst that can happen is that they are too busy to assist.
4. Master human-centric skills
What do clients want from a lawyer? What does your value look like in a world dominated by uncertain economic conditions and innovations like AI? More and more, what matters most is mastering what your clients are looking for when they come to you for legal advice. Clients come to you in crisis, or to prevent a crisis they expect to arise. Essentially, they want reassurance, calm, and confidence, alongside your expertise and advice. In other words, people skills. Human-centric skills.
Think deeply about your clients, and what value looks like to them. This is more than cheaper legal fees or quick service. They want outcomes. They want to be confident that you’re the best person to deliver those outcomes. While no one can control the course of a conflict, you can be the best at guiding your client through a conflict, managing their expectations and emotions along the way. Success in law is more than winning a court case or negotiating a perfect settlement. It’s about how your clients, peers, and leaders perceive you.
5. Do good work. Be good to work with
You’ll often be told to ‘network’, and may feel compelled to attend a slew of networking events, join sub-committees, or otherwise carve out time after busy work days to ‘build your career’. This is all important. This all helps. However, just as important is thinking about why it helps. What is your goal? You network to build relationships. You want to show you’re curious about new fields, and you want to show you are good at what you do.
In this sense, it pays to master the basics. Do good work. Be good to work with. Every single day.
It sounds simple, but on some days, doing good work will be hard. You won’t know enough, you won’t have the energy, and you simply may not have the time to do work as well as someone else who happens to have all three on that particular day. These are the days that distinguish you. How do you respond when you can’t do your best work? Do you find a way through? Or - and be honest with yourself - are you difficult to work with?
How you answer all these questions will come to define you not just as a lawyer, but as a professional. They lie at the heart of what it means to be ‘professional’. The law is a profession for a reason. Figure out what being a professional - paid not just for your expertise, but how you respond to the crises of your clients - means to you.
6. Select structured study to test different career paths
As the law is a profession, you’ll be required to keep your knowledge fresh through CPD (Continuing Professional Development) each year. Amidst the daily rush of life as a lawyer, it’s easy for CPD to be left to the last minute. However, CPD is one of many forms of structured study you can pursue, alongside a Masters or even short courses in other disciplines. Fresh from study, further study is probably the last thing on your mind. However, what it really provides is the opportunity to road-test your future.
For example, an LLM, especially a practically oriented LLM like the College’s range of Applied Law LLMs, presents the opportunity to see what Family Law, Commercial Law, or even International Arbitration involves. It’s a way to know if you might like to become a specialist or prefer serving a community as a trusted generalist across a few areas of law
7. Reframe work-life balance
On some days, there just won’t be anything left in the tank. After all, a lawyer’s hours are notoriously long. So long, in fact, that perhaps it’s best to embrace the idea that work and life are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they exist as part of a whole life – your whole life. Achieving balance is less about an unsustainable ‘work hard, play hard’ lifestyle, and more about enjoying what you do while also dedicating quality time to your loved ones, and looking after yourself through rest, exercise and downtime.
It’s an approach that is fundamentally about being kind to yourself. As a new lawyer, you’re likely to make a few mistakes. However, as well-trained pessimists, lawyers are often far too hard on themselves for making mistakes. Instead, reframe your mistake as a necessary lesson, one learned by countless lawyers before you. As long as you learn and consistently improve, it was a mistake well worth making.
8. Negotiate like a pro
Negotiating on behalf of your client is part of every lawyer’s day-to-day workload. Doing so effectively requires you to develop emotional intelligence and empathy, two skills not easily taught. To succeed as a negotiator, keep in mind that it is crucial to be ‘hard on the problem’, but ‘soft on the people’. In other words, be firm about your client’s position without making it personal for the person sitting across the negotiating table. Be courteous and collaborative as a negotiator; after all, settling a situation in the negotiation room is likely to be a lot more amicable and less expensive for your client than taking a case to court.
9. Master practical legal skills, including advocacy and drafting
Other bread and butter activities of a lawyer include advocacy and drafting. Persuasion lies at the heart of good advocacy. Be structured, succinct and engaging. Support your arguments with well-chosen exhibits. Above all, prepare thoroughly. Preparation makes presentation simple.
Drafting, for example, a statutory declaration, could be regarded as a written extension of verbal advocacy. In addition to delivering succinct and well-supported arguments, it is essential to avoid exaggerating any facts – a common trap for new lawyers.
10. Manage your time, and record all you do
The six-minute billable unit is the bane of every lawyer. To avoid it becoming a source of stress or dissatisfaction with your work, have a system in place to record all you do, assigned to the correct client or administrative task. Starting every day with a clear to do list will help you manage your time – and help you leave on time. Remember to also record time spent on PLT or CPD, as well as ad hoc time spent representing the firm at careers fairs (under ‘marketing’) or supervising a seasonal clerk (under ‘mentoring’). These records will prove handy when it comes to performance reviews, as they reflect a well-rounded new lawyer.