Millennials: Tips for Building a Foundation for Success
By Lauren Stiller Rikleen
It is critical that young lawyers understand early
in their careers the relationship between their future
success in the profession and their ability to attract
and retain clients.
Young lawyers entering the profession today are facing
a vastly different workplace than their predecessor generations
did. When the Baby Boomers entered the legal profession,
a firm could be considered large if it had more than
100 lawyers. Today, global megafirms predominate the
legal landscape. And where once a summer associate class
might consist of a dozen young law students, today’s
summer classes are larger than many law firms.
Moreover, the pace of law practice today is faster and
more stressful than ever before. Technology has made
lawyers accessible around the clock, forever altering
the rhythm of law practice and allowing firms to impose
extraordinary demands on the lives of their young lawyers.
Even as the physical and emotional burdens of these demands
have yet to be fully understood, the current pace also
leaves little time for reflective thinking about one’s
future career.
But it is exactly that type of reflective thinking that
young lawyers must do to understand the relationship
between future success in the profession and the ability
to attract and retain clients. In the highly competitive
legal market that exists today, a young lawyer can no
longer assume an opportunity to learn and grow at the
arm of a senior mentor. Young lawyers need to be savvy
as they navigate their careers in a vastly changing environment.
Here are five recommendations for building the foundation
of your business development success.
1. Strive for Excellence. Be sure to
follow the first piece of business development advice
all young lawyers receive: Be an excellent lawyer. That
is one old-fashioned recommendation that will never be
outdated. No matter how charismatic you are, or how vast
your network may be, true success in the legal profession
starts with excellence in your craftsmanship.
2. Learn From the Successes and the Mistakes
of Others. Today’s billing pressures
have diminished the opportunities to shadow senior
lawyers by attending depositions and court hearings.
Moreover, clients will not pay the high rates for multiple
lawyers to attend a meeting or hearing, and law firms
do not encourage young lawyers to observe more experienced
lawyers at their work when the time cannot be billed.
Nonetheless, there are few better teaching moments
than observing a lawyer at trial or negotiating a deal. Look for those opportunities. Even though you may
not be able to "bill" your time, you will
gain tremendously in developing your skills as a lawyer.
3. Make New Friends and Keep the Old. Effective
business development is really all about relationships.
Classmates from law school go on to become clients and
sources of referral business. The same is true of your
colleagues at work and other friends in the legal profession.
Maintain these relationships throughout your career.
4. Help Others. The simple fact is
that effective networking means thinking about ways you
can help your classmates, your colleagues, and your friends
meet their own career goals. Be generous with your own
relationships and contacts, and you will build a large
reservoir of goodwill for when you need help.
5. Work With Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm
for one’s work is infectious. People enjoy being
around those who love what they do. Enjoy your work and
share that enthusiasm in a way that lets others know
that you are the perfect person to handle their future
matters.
Lauren Stiller Rikleen is executive director of the Bowditch Institute for Women’s Success, a partner at Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, and the author of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law.
Note
‘Millennials: Tips for Building a Foundation for Success,” by
Lauren Stiller Rikleen, 2009, Law Practice, 35:1,
p. 54. © 2009 by the American Bar Association.
Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This
information or any or portion thereof may not be copied
or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored
in an electronic database or retrieval system without
the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
© Copyright 2009, American
Bar Association.
