Career Advice Detail

No hold-barred career advice for 21st Century lawyers

Articles by Dr Andrew Bass

Andrew is a consultant and speaker who helps ambitious firms and individual professionals to realize their potential. He has worked with leading professional service firms including KPMG, DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons.

Many lawyers are still far too precious about the profession. Only last year, a partner told me imperiously that “there are only three true professions: law, medicine and the Church.” While this was true in the Middle Ages, frankly it’s now a ‘fact’ that is only of use to you in a pub quiz. And thinking that way is nothing less than dangerous to your career - unless you are already a well-established equity partner who can afford the luxury.

Law is a business. The idea is to make a profit by helping clients to get results they couldn’t otherwise achieve. It therefore follows that the only sure-fire way to succeed in a legal career is:

1. be excellent at finding clients and convincing them to pay you to get results
2. be totally solid at delivering
3. collect fees quickly
4. only work with profitable clients

If you can do that, firms will be biting your arms off to offer you great jobs and promotions, and if they don’t you can go into competition against them and take their clients. Most lawyers put too much emphasis on item #2 and neglect or put off learning the other three. And that’s where the advantage for the young lawyer who “gets it” lies: most of your competition are concentrating their effort on the wrong things – hoping that doing what they are told as well as possible will be enough for them to be given what they want (eventually).

Law is still a fabulous business to be in. It is very competitive, but the fundamental economics continue to have a lot going for them. However, it is changing, and so must your career strategy if you are to come out on top. For those that don’t, the job is going to end up like working in a fancy call-centre for average salaries, helping a shrinking number of owners get rich. Which side of the dynamic do you intend to be on?

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For more information about coaching and consulting to boost both individual and organisational performance, contact Andy Bass:

Tel: 00 44 (0)121 427 7217
Email: andrew@bassclusker.com
Web: http://www.bassclusker.com