This Guest post was written and compiled by Victoria.
Once you have gone through the grueling experience of law school, successfully passed the bar exam, and secured a position with a firm, it's tempting to relax and enjoy the confidence in your own skills that this newfound job security can engender. After all, someone else thought you were good enough to hire!
As a result, many rookie lawyers make the same common mistakes. Your first few years of law are bound to have some embarrassing stories and mistakes, but if you're aware of these common mistakes you can make sure to avoid them.
1. Under-reporting your time to seem efficient.
If you're new, it's expected that you will take longer, and it's one of the reasons your billing rate is low. You may want to seem efficient by completing tasks quickly, but the problem is that you will seem inefficient when your boss compares your hours spent in the office to your hours billed. Report numbers accurately and resist the temptation to underbill or overbill to impress.
2. Talking about client matters to friends.
Many new lawyers want to chat with friends and family about wacky clients and cases. Doing so compromises trust and confidentiality. You can't even talk about the case to other lawyers who are not part of your working team, including associates at your own firm. It doesn't matter how well someone can keep a secret... talking too much will quickly backfire.
3. Being afraid to ask questions.
The first few years in any profession are a time for learning! Senior lawyers have been through this period of learning, too. Pushing through a situation instead of asking what to do may result in a much bigger mess, and shows that you're arrogant. Your firm won't mind as long as you ask clear questions, take note of the answers, and learn the answer after you ask the question for the first time. You'll impress people with your motivation and curiosity.
4. Not respecting deadlines.
Just as in other careers, deadlines are of the utmost importance, but the consequences for missing them can be far more severe. If you miss a deadline and fail to file a court document at the right time, you can hold up a case in progress for months and create a great deal of hassle and heartache. Missing deadlines will get you fired, and even squeaking in just on time will not impress your supervisor.
5. Not bothering with proofreading.
You'll be proofreading your own work for years to come. If you rely on spellcheck, you will miss tiny details that end up costing thousands of dollars, or you'll create legal loopholes that allow your client to be exploited at a later date. There are all kinds of dire consequences to not proofreading, and senior lawyers will notice quickly that you don't care enough about your work to proofread.
These are five of the top mistakes made by rookie lawyers, and most of them come out of inexperience and overconfidence. Making it through law school is really just the beginning. If you avoid these rookie mistakes, you will impress your senior lawyers and make a good impression in your firm, and in a business where reputation is everything, making an impression is crucial to your future success.
Victoria contributed this guest post on behalf of Henry Carus & Associates. Victoria is a freelance legal writer with a background as an attorney. She enjoys contributing to various legal blogs.
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