Lawyers What I Look For In Associates

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Lawyers: What I Look for in Associates So far the response to the Lateral Link Rainmaker Webinar Series has been outstanding. As of yesterday, 101 lawyers have signed up. If you are one of those lawyers, I’d love to get your  specific questions. Over the first three months, we’ll cover Client Development for Now and Beyond, How to Prepare a Business Plan and Motivation and Accountability. If you have a question send it to me: cparvin@laterallink.com. I received several emails from lawyers and firm marketing directors asking how much it cost to participate. IT’S FREE. Lateral Link is covering the cost of production and I am doing it for free to help as many young lawyers as possible get on the right track to develop business. In the link above, there’s a place to sign up. If you are interested  or know anyone who is interested, sign up right away. There is a limit to how many can be on the monthly calls at one time. In the first webinar on May 9, I will be covering Client Development 2019. It will be an overview of what we’ll cover in future webinars. In June I will show you how to prepare a business plan. I’ve coached over 1500 lawyers and many of them will tell you that when you commit a plan to writing,  you’ll more likely do what you have planned. I haven’t been focusing on recruiting associates. But, if you are a highly motivated associate and you think I can help you, let me get to know you. When I was the practice group leader and the partner in charge of attorney development in my firm, our HR director asked me for the one attribute in associates that separated the future stars from others. What do you suppose my answer was? Sometimes it is hard to boil down what separates the best from others to one attribute, but for me the answer was easy. I replied: “The burning desire to keep learning and growing as a lawyer.” I intuitively believed that was the one attribute. I later learned scientists believe it also. In a New York Times article: If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow, the writer shares findings by Stanford professor, Carol Dweck on people with a fixed mindset and people with a growth mindset. “People with a growth mind-set tend to demonstrate the kind of perseverance and resilience required to convert life’s setbacks into future successes.” You can’t practice law for an entire career without setbacks. All the associates who have worked for me and the lawyers I have coached are talented. Yet, the associates who stood out , and are successful partners now, were never content with what they had achieved or learned. They did not waste time proving how good they were or get stressed comparing themselves to others. Instead, they had a passion for learning. They believed success is a long term commitment and they were open to my help. The lawyers who do not have the burning desire to learn, are also generally more stressed out. Why? They feel the pressure to prove themselves over and over and they are constantly comparing themselves to others. I cannot really help those lawyers. If you want to be a future star, focus on learning, growing and becoming a better lawyer each and every day. If you are that kind of lawyer, I would be happy to help you find the right firm. I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.