Tips for Lawyers Podcast

One of the transitions that all young lawyers need to make after they start in the profession is to begin to understand their sense of worth.

In today’s podcast episode I explore how young lawyers can begin to appreciate their worth through three major areas of legal practice.

Attitude to Legal Practice

First I take a look at your attitude to legal practice as a whole.  What do you think about what you’re doing?  Do you appreciate where it fits in the overall scheme of the system?

What are you Contributing?

Understanding how your contribution affects the overall firm, your colleagues and, most importantly, your clients is a great way to understand how you fit in and where the value you create in the firm is actually delivered at the other end.

Do you Discount your Dollars?

What do you think about money?  Do you understand where your charge out rate comes from, and why it matters?  Self-discounting is a huge problem among lawyers, and traditionally it comes from fear and an inadequate understanding of how to provide value to clients.

So are you Worthless?

You’ll have to listen to find out.

Happy lawyering!

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

Via the Feed Directly: https://tipsforlawyers.com/?feed=podcast

One of the transitions that all young lawyers need to make after they start in the profession is to begin to understand their sense of worth.

In today’s podcast episode I explore how young lawyers can begin to appreciate their worth through three major areas of legal practice.

Attitude to Legal Practice

First I take a look at your attitude to legal practice as a whole.  What do you think about what you’re doing?  Do you appreciate where it fits in the overall scheme of the system?

What are you Contributing?

Understanding how your contribution affects the overall firm, your colleagues and, most importantly, your clients is a great way to understand how you fit in and where the value you create in the firm is actually delivered at the other end.

Do you Discount your Dollars?

What do you think about money?  Do you understand where your charge out rate comes from, and why it matters?  Self-discounting is a huge problem among lawyers, and traditionally it comes from fear and an inadequate understanding of how to provide value to clients.

So are you Worthless?

You’ll have to listen to find out.

Happy lawyering!

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

Via the Feed Directly: https://tipsforlawyers.com/?feed=podcast

Lawyers have an overarching problem.  We’re all fundamentally defective when it comes to our own ability to progress our careers.

The problem is fear of not being perfect.

You see, our training requires us to be so averse to something going wrong, that we ultimately end up paranoid with fear about doing anything at all.  So steps that should be taken are not.  Things that should be done are put to one side.  Projects that should be finalised are, in fact, left half done because we’re concerned that they are not 100% perfect.

There is, of course, a need to have quality output as a lawyer.

But time and time again I see perfectionism being an excuse for inactivity.  And we’re getting left behind as a result.

The world around, businesses are moving faster, stronger and better than law firms because lawyers are incapable of getting outside their perfectionist approach to running their businesses and their personal practices. We stay cocooned in our comfort zones, and ultimately fall behind as a result.

I say no.

Get up.  Do something.  Tweak as you go!

Happy Lawyering – take a risk today!

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

Via the Feed Directly: https://tipsforlawyers.com/?feed=podcast

 Lawyers have an overarching problem.  We’re all fundamentally defective when it comes to our own ability to progress our careers.

The problem is fear of not being perfect.

You see, our training requires us to be so averse to something going wrong, that we ultimately end up paranoid with fear about doing anything at all.  So steps that should be taken are not.  Things that should be done are put to one side.  Projects that should be finalised are, in fact, left half done because we’re concerned that they are not 100% perfect.

There is, of course, a need to have quality output as a lawyer.

But time and time again I see perfectionism being an excuse for inactivity.  And we’re getting left behind as a result.

The world around, businesses are moving faster, stronger and better than law firms because lawyers are incapable of getting outside their perfectionist approach to running their businesses and their personal practices. We stay cocooned in our comfort zones, and ultimately fall behind as a result.

I say no.

Get up.  Do something.  Tweak as you go!

Happy Lawyering – take a risk today!

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

Via the Feed Directly: https://tipsforlawyers.com/?feed=podcast

 

In the ever increasing job market that’s not too favourable to young lawyers, we’re seeing a never ending string of clones applying for jobs.

Endless resumes full of identical grades, achievements and desires.

False promises about dedication to the field.

One trick ponies.

People who just happen to have volunteered only in law, worked only in law, and have no interests other than their passionate desire to do law and be a lawyer.

Guess what – we don’t believe you.

How are you going to distinguish yourself in a job interview?

If the firm has invited you in then you’re a long way ahead of many – are you really just going to try and blend in so much that you can’t be remembered from the other 50 interviews that they had in the week?

How can you do it, and what can you say to help yourself stand out from the crowd?

Listen to this week’s podcast to find out. Happy Lawyering!

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

In the ever increasing job market that’s not too favourable to young lawyers, we’re seeing a never ending string of clones applying for jobs.

Endless resumes full of identical grades, achievements and desires.

False promises about dedication to the field.

One trick ponies.

People who just happen to have volunteered only in law, worked only in law, and have no interests other than their passionate desire to do law and be a lawyer.

Guess what – we don’t believe you.

How are you going to distinguish yourself in a job interview?

If the firm has invited you in then you’re a long way ahead of many – are you really just going to try and blend in so much that you can’t be remembered from the other 50 interviews that they had in the week?

How can you do it, and what can you say to help yourself stand out from the crowd?

Listen to this week’s podcast to find out. Happy Lawyering!

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

Closing off on our series about people who hate lawyers, in this podcast I talk about how I suggest reacting to the “anti lawyer” approach that some people have.

Specifically, I talk about:

What to do when Uncle Bob tells you at a family barbecue how much he hates lawyers;

The Zorro Circle;

Why people who have had bad experiences sometimes just need a listening ear;

Rebuilding trust from the ground up with clients.

During the podcast I refer to a few different resources (please note that the Amazon links are affiliate links, so I get a minuscule payment from Amazon in the event that you buy – if you’d rather I didn’t get that, just Google it)

Article on Phone Calls over Email

Happiness Advantage by Shaun Achor

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

Closing off on our series about people who hate lawyers, in this podcast I talk about how I suggest reacting to the “anti lawyer” approach that some people have.

Specifically, I talk about:

What to do when Uncle Bob tells you at a family barbecue how much he hates lawyers;

The Zorro Circle;

Why people who have had bad experiences sometimes just need a listening ear;

Rebuilding trust from the ground up with clients.

During the podcast I refer to a few different resources (please note that the Amazon links are affiliate links, so I get a minuscule payment from Amazon in the event that you buy – if you’d rather I didn’t get that, just Google it)

Article on Phone Calls over Email

Happiness Advantage by Shaun Achor

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

Lawyers have a special place in the community.

At their highest, the legal professional is a trusted advisor, assisting their client in all aspects of their decision making in business.

However, variously, lawyers are also the butt of jokes, the object of skepticism or hatred, and viewed as a necessarily evil.  We can be told we are greedy, unfeeling and generally disconnected from reality.  These are perceptions which, in my experience, are only rarely true.

In today’s podcast I want to talk about some of the reasons for that.

First, there are those who hate lawyers simply by virtue of their reputation.  They might not have ever used a lawyer, but have allowed television, books, and media attention on dramatic issues and poor examples of the profession to skew their view of what we have to offer.

Second, there are those who have used lawyers and had a poor experience.  Sometimes this is because the lawyer did not do the right thing by them (either in reality or in their perception) and sometimes it is because the nature of the system did not meet their expectations.

These are the realities that we must deal with as legal practitioners, but they are not insurmountable.

Today is a discussion of the issues, to get you thinking about how they arise.

Next podcast will be my thoughts on how we can go about changing those perceptions people have.

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

 Lawyers have a special place in the community.

At their highest, the legal professional is a trusted advisor, assisting their client in all aspects of their decision making in business.

However, variously, lawyers are also the butt of jokes, the object of skepticism or hatred, and viewed as a necessarily evil.  We can be told we are greedy, unfeeling and generally disconnected from reality.  These are perceptions which, in my experience, are only rarely true.

In today’s podcast I want to talk about some of the reasons for that.

First, there are those who hate lawyers simply by virtue of their reputation.  They might not have ever used a lawyer, but have allowed television, books, and media attention on dramatic issues and poor examples of the profession to skew their view of what we have to offer.

Second, there are those who have used lawyers and had a poor experience.  Sometimes this is because the lawyer did not do the right thing by them (either in reality or in their perception) and sometimes it is because the nature of the system did not meet their expectations.

These are the realities that we must deal with as legal practitioners, but they are not insurmountable.

Today is a discussion of the issues, to get you thinking about how they arise.

Next podcast will be my thoughts on how we can go about changing those perceptions people have.

Subscription Options

You can get all the episodes and subscribe to the Podast in a number of ways:

At the iTunes store (please leave a 5 star rating while you’re there!)

At Stitcher

 

Today’s podcast is an ode to my new Better Business Skills course.

For my dedicated podcast listeners I’ve put the entire first day of the course into podcast format so you can hear what it’s all about, why you should consider it, and hopefully get a few tips and tricks here and there.

IMPORTANT NOTE – THE BUSINESS SKILLS AUDIO COURSE IS PRESENTLY NOT AVAILABLE – A NEW VERSION IS COMING SOON

Happy Lawyering!Today’s podcast is an ode to my new Better Business Skills course.

For my dedicated podcast listeners I’ve put the entire first day of the course into podcast format so you can hear what it’s all about, why you should consider it, and hopefully get a few tips and tricks here and there.

IMPORTANT NOTE – THE BUSINESS SKILLS AUDIO COURSE IS PRESENTLY NOT AVAILABLE – A NEW VERSION IS COMING SOON

Happy Lawyering!

In episode 10 of the Tips for Lawyers podcast I talk about “imposter syndrome” and how it might apply to lawyers.

What is imposter syndrome?  It’s that feeling you get when you are in a situation that’s beyond what you see as your capacity.

It might be where you don’t have the capacity to deal with the issues that arise.  It might be when you don’t know what you’re doing, or where you feel like you need to bluff your way through.

In essence – it’s the feeling of not belonging.

Imposter syndrome comes up frequently for young lawyers where they find themselves out of their depth.

Today I”m going to offer a few strategies to help you through these formative years, stay authentic, keep your integrity, and let you avoid the fear of being “found out” as an imposter.

In the podcast I discuss some of the fears lawyers face – HERE IS THE ARTICLE about fear that I mention.

 

Happy Lawyering!In episode 10 of the Tips for Lawyers podcast I talk about “imposter syndrome” and how it might apply to lawyers.

What is imposter syndrome?  It’s that feeling you get when you are in a situation that’s beyond what you see as your capacity.

It might be where you don’t have the capacity to deal with the issues that arise.  It might be when you don’t know what you’re doing, or where you feel like you need to bluff your way through.

In essence – it’s the feeling of not belonging.

Imposter syndrome comes up frequently for young lawyers where they find themselves out of their depth.

Today I”m going to offer a few strategies to help you through these formative years, stay authentic, keep your integrity, and let you avoid the fear of being “found out” as an imposter.

In the podcast I discuss some of the fears lawyers face – HERE IS THE ARTICLE about fear that I mention.

 

Happy Lawyering!

Legal Writing is not a very sexy topic.  However, your legal career really hinges on your ability to communicate complex legal principles in a way that allows clients to understand it, and in a way that addresses their questions.

So often we fill up our legal advices with unnecessary fluff, resulting in unhappy clients who have the option of either not reading most of it (which is the most common reaction) or who have to spend their valuable time reading the whole thing.

Well – I’m happy to say that there is a better way.

In this podcast we consider:

why it is that we end up with long advices;

the components of fluff that can be removed, and why it’s not a problem to get rid of them;

the structure of a well prepared advice, and the critical elements of a good piece of legal writing;

why shorter advices are better for clients

how your ability to turn around an advice faster is better for your legal career and your firm’s profitability.

Happy Lawyering!Legal Writing is not a very sexy topic.  However, your legal career really hinges on your ability to communicate complex legal principles in a way that allows clients to understand it, and in a way that addresses their questions.

So often we fill up our legal advices with unnecessary fluff, resulting in unhappy clients who have the option of either not reading most of it (which is the most common reaction) or who have to spend their valuable time reading the whole thing.

Well – I’m happy to say that there is a better way.

In this podcast we consider:

why it is that we end up with long advices;

the components of fluff that can be removed, and why it’s not a problem to get rid of them;

the structure of a well prepared advice, and the critical elements of a good piece of legal writing;

why shorter advices are better for clients

how your ability to turn around an advice faster is better for your legal career and your firm’s profitability.

Happy Lawyering!

Your legal career is pretty important to you, and I understand that.  So the question in today’s podcast is how you go about adding value to your legal career and advance your career prospects in the process.

I raised one aspect (profit) briefly in this post recently, but here I cover a range of different options where you might look to add value.

I don’t profess to answer all the big questions of legal career advancement here, but I do raise some issues for your consideration.  What should you know in order to add value?  What things do you need to be learning, attending to, considering in order to ensure that you offer value.

To that end today we talk about:

understanding profit in law firms and its fundamental components of leverage, margin and productivity;

considering how a course of constant firm improvement and self-improvement are both critical aspects of your legal career;

how leadership in law firms needs to be considered as part of your legal career, in particular for junior practitioners who may not enjoy leadership in an organisational sense

how your interpersonal skills play a role in your ability to add value to the firm

This is really “adding value 101” for your legal career.  I’m not talking about time recording, marketing, client skills or anything else.  I’m talking about the stuff that doesn’t get talked about enough.  The skills and career aspects of adding value that relate to firm success, but don’t necessarily just involve recording more time every day.  These are the career matters that we need to be considering as part of our day to day practice and as part of our advancement strategies.Your legal career is pretty important to you, and I understand that.  So the question in today’s podcast is how you go about adding value to your legal career and advance your career prospects in the process.

I raised one aspect (profit) briefly in this post recently, but here I cover a range of different options where you might look to add value.

I don’t profess to answer all the big questions of legal career advancement here, but I do raise some issues for your consideration.  What should you know in order to add value?  What things do you need to be learning, attending to, considering in order to ensure that you offer value.

To that end today we talk about:

understanding profit in law firms and its fundamental components of leverage, margin and productivity;

considering how a course of constant firm improvement and self-improvement are both critical aspects of your legal career;

how leadership in law firms needs to be considered as part of your legal career, in particular for junior practitioners who may not enjoy leadership in an organisational sense

how your interpersonal skills play a role in your ability to add value to the firm

This is really “adding value 101” for your legal career.  I’m not talking about time recording, marketing, client skills or anything else.  I’m talking about the stuff that doesn’t get talked about enough.  The skills and career aspects of adding value that relate to firm success, but don’t necessarily just involve recording more time every day.  These are the career matters that we need to be considering as part of our day to day practice and as part of our advancement strategies.

In my time as a lawyer I’ve yet to come across anyone who genuinely loves performance reviews.  In reality, most people can’t stand performance reviews.  From the moment they get their self-assessment form, until the time it’s over and everything has been submitted, performance reviews are a time of stress, angst and worry.  Add to that the issue that firms don’t do the process that well, and people by and large struggle to make the most out of them, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Performance Reviews (or Performance Appraisals) Podcast

Those things being an issue, I thought I’d have a chat about performance reviews in this podcast.

In it we’re going to talk about:

The specific fears that make us want to run screaming from our performance reviews and what we can do about them, including

fear of the unknown;

fear of criticism

fear of embarrassment

How to get the most out of your performance reviews through:

engaging in a system of ongoing feedback rather than lump sum feedback;

seeking honest opinions;

implementing strategies to improve on the criticisms that are facing us after the review.

In all, performance reviews are a time of stress for many of us.  Hopefully these few tips are going to assist you in you performance reviews, offer some comfort as part of the process, and hopefully give you some tools to implement in your own life which can make future reviews better, and allow you to springboard from your review into a process of self-improvement that actually makes a difference.

Or Just Ignore your Performance Reviews Completely

Otherwise, you can just grit your teeth through the performance reviews and then wait 12 months, at which point nothing will have changed, you won’t have developed more than what an additional year has brought to you, and really won’t have addressed anything at all.

The choice is yours – I vote for aiming for self-improvement out of my performance reviews, as I’ve got a lot to do!  Take your performance reviews and make them meaningful, useful and beneficial to your legal career.

Happy Lawyering!In my time as a lawyer I’ve yet to come across anyone who genuinely loves performance reviews.  In reality, most people can’t stand performance reviews.  From the moment they get their self-assessment form, until the time it’s over and everything has been submitted, performance reviews are a time of stress, angst and worry.  Add to that the issue that firms don’t do the process that well, and people by and large struggle to make the most out of them, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Performance Reviews (or Performance Appraisals) Podcast

Those things being an issue, I thought I’d have a chat about performance reviews in this podcast.

In it we’re going to talk about:

The specific fears that make us want to run screaming from our performance reviews and what we can do about them, including

fear of the unknown;

fear of criticism

fear of embarrassment

How to get the most out of your performance reviews through:

engaging in a system of ongoing feedback rather than lump sum feedback;

seeking honest opinions;

implementing strategies to improve on the criticisms that are facing us after the review.

In all, performance reviews are a time of stress for many of us.  Hopefully these few tips are going to assist you in you performance reviews, offer some comfort as part of the process, and hopefully give you some tools to implement in your own life which can make future reviews better, and allow you to springboard from your review into a process of self-improvement that actually makes a difference.

Or Just Ignore your Performance Reviews Completely

Otherwise, you can just grit your teeth through the performance reviews and then wait 12 months, at which point nothing will have changed, you won’t have developed more than what an additional year has brought to you, and really won’t have...