Landing the right position is only the beginning. Connecting with the culture and building security while doing work you love takes deliberate effort. If you want any future move to be your choice rather than someone else’s, become the person the firm cannot do without.
Work like You are the Owner
Do not just think law. Think economics. Understanding where your billable hours actually go, into overhead, payroll, benefits and expansion, gives the work a purpose and a reason to do it efficiently. Learn the firm. Which practice areas are growing? Where does its expertise sit? What still needs to be built?
Understand Management
Take the time to know the people you report to. What are their objectives? How do they work, and how do they prefer to communicate? Adapt to their style without losing your own.
Set High Personal Standards
Your work reflects on the firm. Be willing to pick up the work that matters even when nobody is watching. Build a reputation as the one who gets things done, done right, by the deadline.
Find Your Niche and Become the Expert
Stay open to a range of responsibilities, but when you find the practice area that holds your interest, learn everything you can about it. Read the papers. Attend the seminars. Find a mentor who practices in it. Become the lawyer people go to for it.
Keep Learning
Do not limit continuing education to your niche. Keep up with legal news and with the technology changing the field. Take classes, attend conferences, and take part in the professional conversation.
Connect and Communicate
Be personable with management, colleagues and clients alike. Know the name behind the face and the person behind the name. Treat everyone with genuine courtesy. Help colleagues, and ask for their help when you need it. A network of solid relationships pays off.
Does that sound like a lot? It is, and little that is worth having comes without it.
OnBoard Legal understands the legal field, and how much easier the road is when the position was the right one to begin with. If you are weighing a move, contact us.