5 things I wish I knew when I became a lawyer
This year marks 20 years since I was admitted as a solicitor. I was reflecting on some of the things I wish I knew when I started my career. After being admitted in 2003, it was a slow start … but it has been a great journey.
Here are the 5 things I wish I knew when I became a lawyer:
Value your reputation
You’ll only get one opportunity to define yourself. As a younger lawyer there can be pressure to do things you don’t agree with or make you feel uncomfortable. Sometimes this could be because it is unknown or you have a lack of experience with the task, the person or the process, but there are times when you genuinely don’t feel comfortable acting in a certain way. When that happens, stand your ground. Be clear on your reasons, but be you.
Remember your friends
I’m still close friends with many of the people I went to university with or have worked with over the years. We speak regularly and catch up when we can. These colleagues have been invaluable to me – answering the silly questions I’ve been too embarrassed to ask anyone else, letting me share ideas with them, consoling me on a loss, helping me to navigate my work-life balance line, finding me jobs and supporting me. They are my safety nets and valued confidants in what can, at times, be a stressful, charged and fast-paced legal world.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint
I started my career like a bull at a gate. After so many years of study I couldn’t wait to work. I now don’t know how I sustained all those work hours for so long. Fortunately, it seems expectations around work hours are changing. Today when I meet early career lawyers, they seem more focused on working to live than living to work – and I think they’ve got it right. There will still be long and hard days, but it is a balance. A career in law is just that, a career. It should be sustainable, rewarding and something you enjoy.
Work hard …
… and keep stepping forward because all the little steps eventually pay off. Without trying to sound cliché, personally, my career has been an accumulation of all the little things, as opposed to recognition from one grand thing I’ve achieved (hmm, I actually can’t think of any ground breaking achievements!). I appreciate it won’t be this way for all lawyers, but for most of us, I suspect it really is just the little things slowly coming together to help you get to where you want to be.
Give people around you the benefit of the doubt … at least for the first few times
We are all human and we have good days and bad days. There are times where I have had opponents who take advantage of circumstances unrelated to the matter we are working on and others who have shown kindness when they did not need to. I remember both. And it’s amazing how many times over the years I’ve also had people approach me, because they remember too.
After 20 years of practice, the benefit of hindsight is one of the rewards, and the lessons learned from experience is the gift that keeps giving as I approach the next 20 years.