By Renée Stackhouse
Law students and new lawyers often have ideas of what they want to be: successful, rich, a change-maker, a trial lawyer, a teacher and so forth. In order to get there, I suggest you start here:
Be well.
In law school, as in the profession, there is an enormous amount of pressure to hit certain milestones equated with success. That mindset can drive both students and lawyers to unhealthy lifestyles. Emotional and physical crutches can range from eating unhealthy foods, to not exercising, to self-medicating with alcohol or drugs. Although it’s hard, try to make self-care a priority in law school so that you carry wellness habits into your legal practice.
Be nice.
Be kind to everyone. Period. Your contemporaries will be your colleagues in a few years, and they will be your judicial officers in a decade. Your reputation begins in law school and people will remember how you treated them and equate that with your competency as a lawyer. Likewise, when you land a job in an office or courtroom, treating everyone with kindness goes a long way. You will learn the most from office secretaries, paralegals, bailiffs and clerks.
Be seen.
Go to events in your legal community. Meet people and make connections. Send follow-up handwritten notes, emails or LinkedIn requests (whatever works for you) to the people you meet. Put your picture in your email footer so people can associate your name with your face and remember meeting you. Make it easy for them to recognize you when you’re out and about.
Be involved.
Law school organizations are a wonderful way to get, and give, support in law school. Take that experience even further by getting involved in the greater legal community. Pick an organization that resonates with you. Perhaps you choose the SDCBA New Lawyers Division, which is open to law students, or one of the 40-plus local law-related organizations (find a full list at www.sdcba.org). Just make sure you choose a group that brings personal satisfaction. That way, you never resent the time or effort you’re asked to give to it — and do give! Join and get involved in a committee. Make commitments to help and follow through. Work your way up in the organization. The community that you support will support you right back.
Be curious.
After your first semester, you can start getting experience. Reach out to the fabulous folks in your Career Services to let them know what your goals are and what you’re interested in. They will help you. Try as many different things as you can, so you can learn what you enjoy doing. As a secondary benefit, you will gain experience and hit the ground running when you’re hired. Very few businesses want to train someone from scratch. Good grades are terrific; practical experience is better.
Be persistent.
People may tell you: “You don’t have enough experience,” “You can’t apply for that job because,” “You shouldn’t try as a first-year associate to” or “You will never get hired if.” Don’t listen. Identify what you want, then work each day to make it happen. Sometimes it’s a long road, sometimes the results are immediate, but you’ll never get there if you don’t keep trying.
Believe.
Believe in yourself. Everyone has self-limiting beliefs. The difficult part is to figure out what yours are. Much like biases, self-limiting beliefs are changeable once you have identified them. If you’re having trouble identifying them, ask a friend or family member to describe you and write down what they say. If you want to fight the nice things that were said, you’ve found some self-limiting beliefs. Imagine your life if you weren’t limited by them. Actively create new, positive beliefs about what you can accomplish. Whenever you hear your inner critic tell you what you can’t do, fight back with what you can do.
Cheers to you and your path to success — whatever that path is to you. Know that you have an entire community rooting for you.
Renée Stackhouse is a founder of Stackhouse APC.