How to Be a Lawyer. Jason Mendelson
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Writing is more important than ever, as email has taken over as the primary form of communications. When Jason (who is a little older than Alex) started his first law firm job, there were barely computers on desks and email was “new.” Paper cover letters to documents were still being written by first-year lawyers and reviewed by senior associates before they were whisked away by couriers who were running around town delivering packages. Talk about transactions costs!
Well, today, even a green first-year lawyer is sending emails to clients. Proper written communication is essential. Use your experience in this class to pay attention to words, because every one of them usually counts for something.
When it comes to blue book citations, grin and bear it if you aren't going to use these professionally. Only thing to pick up here is that all lawyers need to pay attention to detail. Otherwise, sorry.
Bottom Line: Writing is more important than ever. Take this opportunity to practice and learn.
Evidence
Evidence may seem only valuable to litigators, but that is shortsighted. We know that evidence is important in every facet of the legal profession because it governs what material will or will not get into a legal proceeding. Because of this, evidence laws also allow one party to exert pressure on another party prior to any legal proceeding. You can only imagine some of the things we've seen that people don't want the public to know about.
So whatever area you practice in, consider from day one what materials may or may not make it into a courtroom. Think about things like your own personal document retention policy earlier in your career. While much of your materials will likely be protected by attorney–client privilege, some of it is not, as loose email communications might include a party on the email chain that is not protected by privilege, thus, blowing the privilege.
Protect your clients and add value by encouraging robust document retention policies. This is a relatively easy area of the law that can be self-taught yet highly valuable from day one to your new client, regardless how junior of a lawyer you may be. Plus, the great thing about this area is that your expertise or position doesn't really matter. Pretty much every lawyer must manage documents correctly if she wants to be successful (or at least not commit malpractice). Don't wait to find your mistake. In the worst of these situations, we've seen lawyer work product produced in a trial and even worse, the lawyer called as an actual witness in a case. Yuck.
Bottom line: Even if you aren't going to be a litigator, please please please pay attention to how evidence works. All lawyers, their communications, and their work product have the possibility of ending up in court. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
Ethics and Professional Responsibility
This course is mandatory for a reason: it's all about you keeping your bar card, staying out of jail, and not showing up in the news for the wrong reasons. Unbelievably, there are a surprising number of lawyers who screw this stuff up.
Some didn't pay attention in class, some don't think things through, and some are just plain bad lawyers. In any event, while a lot of this is common sense, some is much more nuanced so pay attention.
This class may be boring and seemingly obvious, but there are two things to which you should pay particular attention. The first is conflicts of interest. The concept seems so simple, correct? Wrong. What do you do when you represent a company, and the CEO tells you to do something that you feel is not in the best interest of the company? For instance, the CEO says, “Please prepare a new employment agreement for me that doubles my salary.” Is that in the best interest of the company? Do you have a conflict? We'll go into this and other scenarios in depth later in the book but for now consider that some conflicts are not so obvious.
The second is around the attorney–client relationship. It's imperative to know when you've created one, when you haven't, and when it's a bit ambiguous. Remember that it is from the client's, not your, eyes that determine whether there is a relationship. This means that you need to be careful of that three-drink advice you gave someone at a bar. You may have created a relationship that you don't want to have.
Bottom line: This class is the building block for many nuanced real-life situations. While most of these classes are limited to “just the facts,” realize that the subject matter extends much more broadly than a law school professor is probably used to teaching. Throughout this book, we'll bring these issues into real-life examples.
Having finished up with the mandatory classes, let's dig into electives you might want to consider.
CHAPTER 5 Choosing Proper Electives
We believe the practice of law, whether full time as an attorney or part time as an entrepreneur, CEO, or politician, is a trade like any other. Therefore, law school properly done is professional training, not an intellectual odyssey or journey of self-discovery. While those things can happen, they're side benefits, not the purpose.
Somehow this can get confused in law school. Perhaps this happened long ago when the practice of law was more elitist and many law professors viewed themselves as philosophers rather than professional guides and mentors. Perhaps this is due to the Socratic method or the unintended consequences of unaccountable tenure, but this confusion has inflated costs and created a glut of unemployable lawyers. Being strategic and tactical in choosing your electives will help you avoid becoming one of these unfortunate souls.
When choosing electives, keep three things in mind. First, make sure you choose and take each class with the four core lawyering concepts as your filter; second, make sure you take classes that help you solve problems; and third, take a negotiations (i.e., alternative dispute resolution) class regardless of your legal interests.
With that in mind here is our elective choosing algorithm:
1 Conduct proper due diligence to protect and maximize your most valuable asset.The key to choosing proper electives is due diligence. It's shocking how many smart law students place so little value on the most valuable asset any of us have: time. Be jealous of your time, and only spend it with the very best your school has to offer.Diligence should begin as soon as you have chosen your school. Scour social media and professional networks for recent alumni of your chosen school. Begin networking with those in your city or state, inviting them to a coffee or to provide career advice via Zoom. You should ask which professors and adjuncts they liked, who they didn't, and what are the top three classes they recommend you take. In line with this book, ask more generally for advice on how to be successful in your school.Diligence continues when you arrive on campus. Networking is key to any successful law school career and should be one of your top priorities from the start. Join organizations that have second and third years at members, hopefully working collaboratively in a setting like a legal clinic or journal. Ask every second or third year you meet who they liked, who they didn't, and why.See if your law school has student rating data on professors or adjuncts. And if not, ask why not, as you are the customer. Regardless, look for online networks that rate professors, which should be reviewed skeptically if they allow anonymous ratings or comments. But review all available resources and make informed decisions.
2 Choose courses by teacher/professor first, subject second.As the law is all very interconnected and interrelated, and the skill set applicable across all subject areas, we believe you should select electives based on the quality of the teacher, not the type of content. Spending your time with the very best your school has to offer is key to maximizing your opportunity set. Put another way, great teachers teach you a lot more than just the subject material. They'll teach you how to think, talk, debate, laugh,