Wednesday, February 4, 2009

What Does It Take To Become a Top Lawyer?

Shai Littlejohn, a general counsel for the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission in Washington, wrote a special to the National Law Journal, titled Self-marketing is key. In this piece she argues that just having the law degree does not take you to the dream job, and most definitely does not guarantee an opportunity in the law field, let alone in any other field. As she states, "navigating the [legal] profession is far more complicated than the bar itself."

Shai
recommends for all the young attorneys out there to think of themselves as three parts lawyers and one part marketing agent. It is important to be able to sell yourself. Shai calls it 'personal brand' and recommends to establish and cultivate one. As we all know, good job gives good results, but excellent job gives excellent results. As Shai points out, if you want to be offered the top jobs that are given to only the top attorneys, you must become the top attorney.

The question is: What does it take to be the top attorney?

The article presents few very helpful suggestions, among which Shai talks about the idea of involvement. Get involved, be on call, be available, don't consider your work just work but think of it as a service to your employers as well as to your clients.

Take a minute and read this inspiring article.

Be the top attorney and get the top jobs, if that is your dream!

8 comments:

  1. This is really good blog site.I loved going through this whole site. Thanks for this wonderful site.
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    jennifer
    lawyer marketing

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  2. Most people take 8 years of scool and then then take the bar. How much? Well how good of a lawyer do you want to become? Differend School different prices. attorneys who work for the government or as public defenders tend to make less than those of us in private practice. This does not make them better or worse lawyers. So the answer is, you can make as little as nothing (many lawyers do) to very high salaries if you attend a good law school, get good grades, pass the Bar, and then work at a big firm. If you told me what law you wanted to practice, I could give you a better sense of what the range might be, but it does vary greatly. Good luck in your pursuits.
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    Melinda Storer

    <"http://www.legalx.net/advertise" "dofollow">lawyer marketing

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  3. I totally agree with Shai's comments. Every one who wants to be a lawyer should have some marketing skills.You can get work easily by your marketing skills.

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  4. hi,
    i just wanted to say how much i enjoy reading your blog. in a world full of spin, it's nice to get some fact-based analysis.
    keep up the good work.

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