JUNIOR ASSOCIATE #7 — CLIENTS DON’T CARE WHERE YOU WENT TO LAW SCHOOL

“The [non]billable hour” is one of the best legal blogs out there. Not too long ago I found one picture from their site on my partner’s table:

I think this is an important topic. It does not matter where you come from, what’s your story or who you know. As a lawyer, especially as a junior associate, the only important thing is what you do and how you do it.

You could have graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law or last of your class from the last law school in the country. Whenever you are hired, you are given one shot and what you do with it is what matter. Do you best. Leave everything behind. Work your ass off and prove you’re the best and trustworthy.

To the clients you will probably be another person that they have to pay your high fees for its work. At least initially. The important thing is what you prove to your client that you are something else. That you are different. That you want to make the difference.

It may also sound weird be focus on the user experience with the client. Some time ago I wrote a post about the user experience of the clients and its importance.

What you see on the right circle of the pictures may seem obvious, but it is not. Return the calls, emphasize your strengths whenever you can (especially in matters for the client where you can provide added value) and be sure that your best business development asset is the client-2-client conversation.

This extra-mile requires extra work, but hey… we have already agreed that we´re going to keep pushing.

Originally published at https://www.antoniodelaesperanza.com on March 8, 2017.