By Anne Rudolph
Rule 1.15, titled “Safekeeping Funds and Property of Clients and Other Persons” directs in paragraph (a) that all funds received or held by a lawyer or law firm for the benefit of a client … including advances for fees, costs and expenses, shall be deposited in a client trust account.
The New Lawyer Division (NLD) had the privilege of collaborating with the Intellectual Property and Civil Litigation Sections to host the “Say Hello to Summer” social networking event. At the event, Taneashia Morrell, Board of Director, Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Division and the Immediate-Past Chair of the Intellectual Property Section, said a few things about collaboration that really stuck with me. She said just like it costs you nothing to be kind to others, it costs nothing to collaborate with others. It reminded me that one of the biggest lessons I learned during my time with the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA) is that collaboration is a key reason why NLD and the SDCBA are successful.
Michelle Mitchell is a San Diego-based Trial Attorney at Portfolio Recovery Associates with over 20 years of experience in civil litigation. As a trial attorney, she values the importance of weaving evidence into a story as part of the litigation process, providing a wide range of valuable assets to high-level exposure cases from start to finish.
Oddly enough, many lawyers forget this very important point somewhere along the way of working on a matter and it can get them into a lot of hot water. It is so important to the practice of law that it is the second of the Rules of Professional Conduct [1](“RPC”) and it requires the practitioner to define the scope of a lawyer’s representation and the allocation of an attorney’s authority to act on behalf of a client.
Happy Summer, New Lawyer Division colleagues!
In the first few years of practicing law, it is easy to focus solely on the hard skills associated with this profession. For most new lawyers, it is essential to focus on developing strong research and writing skills that will serve as a foundation from which to grow. The first few years are an endurance race—for each new task, a new lawyer must spend time learning the facts of the case, the law, the procedure, or the firm’s methods. Only then, can the new lawyer move on to actually completing the task. The learning often takes just as much time as the doing. Of course, you cannot bill the client for the hours you spend learning, so the days stretch well into the evenings. With schedules dictated by looming deadlines, it is often difficult to imagine voluntarily adding any more work to your plate. Many young lawyers are so focused on building the hard skills that they lose out on incorporating soft skills into their legal foundation. Soft skills are not the focus of law school or the bar exam, so they may not get the attention they deserve, but those who devote time and energy to developing those skills early have an advantage. Whether it is client management, communication, teamwork, or networking, soft skills make you a better lawyer. At work, many of these soft skills are reserved for the supervising attorneys, but networking is beneficial and accessible to all attorneys.
