I was a prosecutor for two and a half years before transitioning to civil practice. As a prosecutor, I managed thousands of traffic, misdemeanor, juvenile, and felony cases from intake to disposition. I served as lead counsel in over 25 trials and prosecuted countless contested hearings. Many of the skills I had developed as an assistant state attorney translated seamlessly into civil practice. In other ways, civil practice has felt brand new to me. I was unaccustomed to the demands of clients, taking lengthy depositions, and billing. Here are some tips for young lawyers from the perspective of someone who has transitioned from criminal to civil practice.
Relying on your strengths
As a young lawyer, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by everything you don’t know and everything you have yet to accomplish. Rather than focusing your energy on the skills you have yet to master, rely on your strengths! Some of your best resources are the strengths that you already possess. Instead of being afraid of the task in front of you because you have not tackled it before, reframe the circumstance and consider all of the skills you already have that will allow you to successfully complete the task.
For example, I do not have a background in medicine. However, I enjoy talking to professionals and learning about their work. In the medical malpractice cases I handle, I gain significant insight on complex medical matters from speaking directly with doctors and nurses. As a lawyer, a skill you likely already possess is interviewing and connecting with people. When you take a sincere interest in your clients’ work (after having done your background research, of course), they will eagerly assist you in understanding the complexities of their work. Millennials tend to prefer emails to phone calls. However, the best way to establish a rapport with your clients is to pick up the phone or meet with them in person. One of the partners I work for often advises me that you cannot successfully investigate and move a case forward by sitting behind your desk. Take the initiative to request to interview witnesses early on in the case, assess the site where the subject incident occurred, and rely on your interpersonal skills to set you apart.
Working as a teammate
Prior to attending law school, I heard that law students were cutthroat. Watching The Paper Chase and Legally Blonde didn’t exactly cure the stereotype. However, my experience in law school didn’t match pop culture’s depiction of students sabotaging one another to succeed. Instead, Florida State University College of Law fostered a collegial environment. I maintained the same study group throughout my three years, in which we were committed to each other’s success. I have been fortunate to work for a firm that shares that culture. I encourage young lawyers to view colleagues as teammates. On a team, you should strive to be your best self rather than viewing your teammates as competition. Not only will being kind feel better, you will also likely perform better. As workmates, we remind one another of upcoming firm deadlines, exchange motions, and brainstorm ideas together. Teamwork fosters a sense of purpose. Teams always have a captain or two to lead and inspire. As a young lawyer, it is critical that you find a mentor. While a mentor outside of your firm can be a very helpful, objective figure, having a mentor inside of your firm is crucial. Mentors inside of your firm can shed insight on firm expectations and share the steps they took to achieve their position. They can also help you to avoid reinventing the wheel by sharing past motions and research.
Accomplishing your goals
Young lawyers should write a list of goals every six months. These goals should be specific and attainable. Discuss these goals with your mentor and make a plan of how you will accomplish them. Some examples of goals may be to take a deposition, write a motion and conduct the hearing on the motion, and prepare a witness for trial. Revisiting your goals every six months is a great way to recognize what you have accomplished and identify what skills you need to master next.
Before taking a deposition, you should observe a senior attorney take a deposition. Ask your mentor or an attorney you work for to observe one of their upcoming depositions. You don’t need to wait for them to offer. Next, identify a deposition that you would like to take on one of your own cases. Prepare for the deposition as though you will be the one taking it. Then, you will be able to go to your senior partner and confidently request to take the next deposition.
As a young lawyer, you will be tasked with writing many motions. However, at the very beginning of your career you may not be asked to argue the motions you have written in court. When another attorney is arguing a motion that you assisted in writing, ask to attend the hearing and observe how they argue the motion. Observation is important but there is no substitute to experience. Share your goals with your senior attorney and let him or her know you’d like to argue the next motion.
Trials are few and far between, especially in the civil arena. If you have an opportunity to observe a trial, take it. While you may not be presented with the opportunity to second chair a trial early on in your career, if someone else has a trial teed up, request to observe as many parts as you can. Even assisting with preparing a witness for trial on another attorney’s case can help a young lawyer leaps and bounds. Learning how to prepare a witness for trial will teach you what questions to ask a witness during the very early stages of a case and how to better defend a deposition. Although most cases do not go to trial, your clients deserve for you to treat every case as though it may go to trial.
Coping with stress
Young lawyers are under considerable stress to resolve matters for clients and meet the expectations of their firm and themselves. It is important to find healthy ways to cope with stress, anxiety, and burnout. A practical and helpful book that I read recently was Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.1 While this book was aimed at women and why they experience burnout differently from men, many of the principles it discusses are beneficial for book identifies physical activity and positive social interaction as two of the things you can do daily after work to relieve stress. Physical activity communicates to your body that you have survived the stress that you endured throughout the day and your body is yet again a safe to place to reside. Positive social interaction reassures your brain that the world is a sane and safe place after having endured the stresses of being a problem solver.
What about getting through your day? When you feel stuck on an assignment, don’t be afraid to allow yourself a few minutes to walk around. Giving yourself a break will allow you to return to the assignment with a fresh take. Feeling overwhelmed or nervous? Take deep and slow breaths. Practicing breathing exercises can immediately calm your nervous system. Struggling with confidence? Find a mantra that works for you. You may want to repeat, “I am confident, and I am capable.” Practice repeating your mantra throughout the day to take control of your thoughts and replace any negativity that comes your way.
One of the more frustrating hurdles that young attorneys face, particularly women, is dealing with older attorneys being rude, condescending, and even sexist. You worked too hard and are too capable to allow those attitudes to steal your energy and passion for the law. If opposing counsel is rude to you over the phone, at a deposition, or a hearing, impose boundaries and kindly let them know that is not how you will be treated. Also, report bad behavior to your partner or mentor. They can be a good sounding board and may even intercede on your behalf to ensure opposing counsel’s behavior does not persist. Some particularly unprofessional comments may even warrant judicial intervention. Remember that clients hired you to advocate on their behalf, so don’t forget to also speak up for yourself.
The most important advice that I can give to young lawyers is this: remind yourself that every successful attorney was once new to the practice of law. Work hard, be patient with yourself, have confidence in your skills, seek out a mentor, and be goal oriented.
Originally published in The Trial Advocate Vol. 39 No. 1 (2020). Republished with permission.
