Lessons From 20 Years in Law
A career in law isn’t for the faint-hearted.
If quitting had been an option, I suspect I may well have done so at various points in my career when it became too much. Having reached this stage, I see now how lucky I have been that quitting has never been an option for me – like most people, I don’t have a financial cushion to fall back on and need to work. If I quit, what would I do instead, that paid the same salary? And so, I persevered.
What’s Your Law Origin Story?
What was the moment when you realized that you wanted to become a lawyer?
My parents strongly encouraged my two sisters and I to go down the law route. Both my parents were teachers when we were growing up and they repeatedly warned us against entering what they described as a “thankless profession”. We were studious and liked reading. My Dad informed us that our objective should be to find a job that we liked and which would involve “getting paid the most money for the least work”. I’m certain that law doesn’t meet the last criterion but it wasn’t bad advice overall. It’s no coincidence that two out of the three of us ended up as lawyers.
How to say no without everyone hating you
I know from speaking to female lawyers that saying no is something many of us struggle with. It’s not easy, after all, to switch off a lifetime of conditioning to be a “good girl” and trying to please everyone. Most of us are conscientious types who want to do well and the unfortunate corollary of this can sometimes be that we say yes to too many things.
There are many situations in which a female lawyer may be asked to do something she doesn’t want to do, or that isn’t in her interests to agree to. People have written whole books about how to tackle this. However, for today, I want to share a quick tip on saying no which I’ve found really helpful – it allows you to protect your boundaries and your relationship with the person requesting at the same time. Win!
I wasn’t expecting this…
Kindness is, after all, very much not a prerequisite for working in a law firm. Indeed, I suspect it would be actively frowned upon by certain members of the profession.
And yet…
What will we remember when we reach the end of our careers?
Yes, of course, we’ll remember the highs and lows of a career in a highly competitive (and occasionally dramatic) profession.
But won’t we remember most of all the times when we were treated with kindness in a profession where it can be in somewhat short supply?