Starting a practice? Dealing with partners as an associate? Mental health?
These are the questions many recent law school graduates grapple with. To help ease the transition from law school into the legal workforce, a panel of young attorneys imparted wisdom from their early practicing years at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting and Convention. Here are the top tips from the seminar.
Katrina Homel, Esq., Associate Director of Legal Services and Member Rights, New Jersey Education Association
Be open to the opportunities that are out there, because you might find something that you never thought would be a potential path forward for you that speaks to your talents. I always thought that my first job out of law school would define my career. For those of you who found your dream job out of law school, that’s great, but sometimes you might need to follow a winding path to help you get where you want, or even find a new opportunity.
Hon. Jodi F. Bouer, J.S.C., Mercer County
The biggest thing that young lawyers need is mentors – people they can go to with a question, or if they made a mistake – before they go to the powers that be. It’s always good to bounce ideas off people who you trust when you have an issue, whether it’s about the personalities at the firm, the culture, what to do if you make a mistake. My advice is don’t ever panic, and if you do, only panic in front of people you can trust. Almost nothing is unfixable. It’s all about how you spin it.
Jacob P. Davidson, Falk & Flotteron LLC
The panic mode some young attorneys find themselves in when you’re stuck inside your own head. When you have a mentor or a network of people you trust, you can get out of your own head and start to problem solve. Anyone who tells you they win all their cases is lying. You can be careful about what cases and clients you take, but you can’t fix the facts that came to your door and the law that governs.
Christopher Jackson, Buchanan Ingersoll
Avoiding burnout is important for your mental health. As a young lawyer, remember that practicing is not your entire life. Maintaining outlets is one thing that helped me through law school and my career. I’ve met people for whom being a lawyer is their entire personality. Don’t be that person. You have to enjoy life. If you liked music and playing guitar before you became an attorney, keep on doing that. Don’t let your job take up your entire day.