The Young Lawyer's Guide to Money and Power

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for lawyers and lawyer wannabes
Review: This book may have changed my life. I was scheduled for a performance review when a friend lent me her copy. Reading it was like a mental software upgrade: for example, I used to have lots of negative thoughts about being a lawyer, and Shears pointed out how that was affecting my work performance. I was bumming because I wanted to both succeed as a lawyer and have lots of free time, but this book wisely points out that YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE! You can't do everything, and sacrifice is required to get ahead. By chapter three I had changed my wardrobe (some of it, anyway), and made some other important attitude adjustments as well.

These things may sound obvious, but sometimes we know things are true, yet fail to put them into practice. William Shears writes in a style that makes you feel like you're actually worth something: a feeling you don't often get from partners. He cheers you up, reveals the inside scoop on why people act the way they do, and most important, makes you feel as though you can get ahead regardless of whether or not you're working with one or more jerks. YOU have the power, and no one else can stop you. That's all too easy to forget in a law firm context. And feeling empowered made me want to change for the better.

The second half of the book is about learning the technical skills you'll need to move up the ladder of success. Things like negotiation, writing clearly, learning political skills and building a client base. He also has some good ideas on running your own business. Reading the chapter on transactional and litigation skills made me realize that there are several things I need to learn fairly quickly, and the book's reading suggestions are helping me get there.

In short, I changed my attitude and my appearance, came up with a good plan for learning some much-needed skills, and was able to make a much better impression on the partners at my performance review than I would have without this book. My New Year's resolution is to follow the book's suggestions for pumping up my Rolodex and starting to build a client base.

There are other good career counseling books for lawyers, but (as Shears points out in the intro) they tend to view partners as the "gods on Mount Olympus" who decide whether you'll succeed or fail. But they don't. As Shears points out, YOU are the only one who determines how far you'll get. You do have to please the partners if you want to become their partner yourself someday, but you matter just as much as they do. You may encounter setbacks, but if you have the motivation and put in the hours, no one can stop you from succeeding. If you don't get there at your current firm, there are lots of other options.

There's a lot of cynicism in the law, and this book cuts through it like a chainsaw. Thank you, Mr. Shears!

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for lawyers and lawyer wannabes
Review: This book may have changed my life. I was scheduled for a performance review when a friend lent me her copy. Reading it was like a mental software upgrade: for example, I used to have lots of negative thoughts about being a lawyer, and Shears pointed out how that was affecting my work performance. I was bumming because I wanted to both succeed as a lawyer and have lots of free time, but this book wisely points out that YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE! You can't do everything, and sacrifice is required to get ahead. By chapter three I had changed my wardrobe (some of it, anyway), and made some other important attitude adjustments as well.

These things may sound obvious, but sometimes we know things are true, yet fail to put them into practice. William Shears writes in a style that makes you feel like you're actually worth something: a feeling you don't often get from partners. He cheers you up, reveals the inside scoop on why people act the way they do, and most important, makes you feel as though you can get ahead regardless of whether or not you're working with one or more jerks. YOU have the power, and no one else can stop you. That's all too easy to forget in a law firm context. And feeling empowered made me want to change for the better.

The second half of the book is about learning the technical skills you'll need to move up the ladder of success. Things like negotiation, writing clearly, learning political skills and building a client base. He also has some good ideas on running your own business. Reading the chapter on transactional and litigation skills made me realize that there are several things I need to learn fairly quickly, and the book's reading suggestions are helping me get there.

In short, I changed my attitude and my appearance, came up with a good plan for learning some much-needed skills, and was able to make a much better impression on the partners at my performance review than I would have without this book. My New Year's resolution is to follow the book's suggestions for pumping up my Rolodex and starting to build a client base.

There are other good career counseling books for lawyers, but (as Shears points out in the intro) they tend to view partners as the "gods on Mount Olympus" who decide whether you'll succeed or fail. But they don't. As Shears points out, YOU are the only one who determines how far you'll get. You do have to please the partners if you want to become their partner yourself someday, but you matter just as much as they do. You may encounter setbacks, but if you have the motivation and put in the hours, no one can stop you from succeeding. If you don't get there at your current firm, there are lots of other options.

There's a lot of cynicism in the law, and this book cuts through it like a chainsaw. Thank you, Mr. Shears!