How to ace your first year of legal practice (for the woman private law firm associate attorney)

1. Owning it!Your first year of practice and beyond2011 Ms. JD Conference Southwestern Law School

2. Challenges for Women Very narrow window of time to get pulled into the network Women not picked up as quickly as their male counter-parts Women dropped more quickly than their male counter-parts Superiors afraid of giving women feedback Superiors afraid of hurting women’s feelings

3. Helping the harried partner

4. Behind every accusation is a cry for

5. You represent the client

6. Assume no intermediary To seem confident,you must be confident To leverage everyone’s talents and experience, be willing to change your position To serve your client best, defend your position until someone convinces you that you’re wrong

7. Own the problem/be the solution/ask for feedback

8. Think horizontally Your partner is the coach and you are the player; s/he wants you to win

9. Yes, you can win that motion Yes, but not with that motion Yes, if we characterize the facts differently Yes, if we convince the judge to expand the law Yes but here are the problems with our position Yes and here are some potential solutions to those problems If have to say no, display that you’ve given serious thought to getting around the negative reply The answer is always“yes”

10. I can do that!!

11. Stride in Introduce yourself (hand shake) to anyone you don’t know Make eye contact Choose the best available seat Brief small talk Restate the question Say what you did to answer it Answer the question We have an excellent chance of prevailing if . . . We have the following problems The client should understand that . . . We need to learn more about this . . .

12. Failing Apologize Tip-toe into the room Stare at the floor End your sentences on upswing . . . ?????? Limply shake my hand Um, like, y’know I think, I guess, I believe . . . . . Admit defeat right away Make excuses De-value yourself

13. Ask for advice/give up too soon Stay inside the lines Miss a deadline Argue instead of problem solve Be unable to answer follow up questions Be unable to back up opinion when partner disagrees with you Give up your position too easily Refuse to give up your position/see other side Say “oh yeah, I didn’t think of that; sorry” Cry 10 more ways to fail

14. You are not a widget And no one wants you to be