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[00:00:07] Scott Benton: Hey, everyone. Scott Benton here. How are you? I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast, where we help you easily transition from a law school student into your professional career as an attorney. And, of course, where we make the practice of law easy and fun. And today, We’re gonna answer the question of why do you want to escape from the theory of law? Why do you want to escape from the theory of law? What does that even mean?
[00:00:31] Scott Benton: [00:01:00] The theory of law isn’t chasing you down like the shark and jaws, is it? Or how can you claim that the theory is problematic in any way, especially as you begin your career as an attorney? Wouldn’t theory in theory be an asset to your career?
[00:01:34] Scott Benton: Wouldn’t it help you get ahead? Don’t you want to know everything you can about the law? whether it’s theory or history or the philosophy of law and so on. Yes and no you do and you don’t and I’m going to explain that. Keep in mind that going through law school is It’s setting your foundation. That theory that you learn over the span of many years, it’s never going to go away.
[00:01:59] Scott Benton: So [00:02:00] one way to think about that is that you really can never escape the theory of law. It’s already got you. But because this is a podcast where we’re talking about making the transition from your incarnation as a law school student into a fully licensed attorney. We need to look at every detail in that process, and we’re going to have to chart out what it is you’re moving away from in that moment and what it is you’re moving towards.
[00:02:27] Scott Benton: So in this case, Law schools are going to be a very valuable place for you to go where you’re more passive in nature. Because just, that’s the format of educational models. In a sense, if you think about it, education is done to you. In that, you’re sitting in a class generally and you’re listening to a professor speaking on some topic.
[00:02:52] Scott Benton: They talk and you listen. So maybe you might participate if you’re, called upon to answer one of their [00:03:00] questions or something, but the professor, they’re doing all the work, they’re generating all the ideas that they’re teaching, and you’re in the class taking in the ideas that they’re teaching.
[00:03:11] Scott Benton: Now. I know that you worked really hard to make it through law school, or if you’re still in law school, you’re working really hard every day. I’m not saying that you’re not putting in a lot of exhausting time, and that it’s not, Just law school has got to be just a sweat factory where you’re just you’re tired all the time and you’re reading all the time and you’re going to class all the time and you’re studying all the time.
[00:03:34] Scott Benton: I’m saying that when you start working at a law firm, it’s different. And when you’ve been in one particular mindset for such a long time, such as a passive mindset in law school, and as long as you have, you start to get acclimated and comfortable in that passive space. And when you get into your first job as an attorney, you might not recognize that [00:04:00] shifts.
[00:04:00] Scott Benton: And in fact, it changes overnight. So what you did in law school for three or four years, it’s not going to work as you begin your practice as an attorney. So you have to change immediately and you have to be aware of that. So it helps if you’ve been listening to these podcast episodes and you know that this moment is going to be a big one.
[00:04:20] Scott Benton: Pretty substantial paradigm shift for you, and that’s gonna allow you to prepare and transition into an active mindset long before you actually start your first attorney job. This is something that you can do while you’re looking for an attorney job, even before you start getting interviews and start talking to people about specific positions.
[00:04:42] Scott Benton: Because if you don’t make those preparations now, up front, if you don’t make that Mindset shift from passive to active, then you’re not going to have a choice once you start. You have to make that switch then. So the answer to the question of why do we want to [00:05:00] escape from the theory of law is that when you begin working, you’re not simply in school anymore.
[00:05:06] Scott Benton: You’re just not in school. You’re not a student. You’re now an attorney, an ESQ, an Esquire. So you need to change. You can’t be passive anymore. Not even a little, not a little, at all. You need to be active. So if your mind is still grounded in theory and you’re not actively looking at a case and then putting your to do list together and then performing those legal services from your to do list that you put together actively and then finishing those legal services that you did and then billing for your time and then getting paid and going back and doing it all over again, that’s the success cycle.
[00:05:41] Scott Benton: You’re just gonna repeat that. That’s your ticket. to attorney rock stardom right there. And if you haven’t gone through that success cycle over and over again, that underpins everything you do as an attorney, then it means your mind is still locked up in law school. You’re still in that [00:06:00] passive mindset and you have to do everything you can to switch that as an attorney.
[00:06:05] Scott Benton: You don’t want to be in law school, so you need to escape the theory of law. And you need to run as fast as you can to the practice of law. Those are two totally different ideas. They’re totally different mindsets. Those are two totally different types of people and they’re both inside of you, so to speak.
[00:06:25] Scott Benton: So every day that you show up to work, after you begin working as an attorney, Every day that you show up to work, you want to ask yourself, who are you going to be that day? Who are you going to be as you walk through that door and sit down in your office? Are you still going to be a law student because working as an attorney is just uncomfortable and unfamiliar to you because you haven’t done it for very long?
[00:06:49] Scott Benton: Or are you going to think of nothing else but your cases and your to do list? And you’re going to be actively performing legal services that you’re going to provide for that [00:07:00] day. Now if you catch yourself sitting down at your desk and looking over your to do list that, by the way, you put together the night before so you were prepared in the morning so you could immediately start, immediately get going because you’re selling time.
[00:07:14] Scott Benton: You’re providing legal services and you’re going to sit down and you’re going to set a timer and you’re going to begin to perform those legal services for your clients. And those are the first two of the three steps of the success cycle that we talk about a lot on this podcast. And if you’re doing that, then you know you have successfully escaped from law school land and the world of the theory of law.
[00:07:37] Scott Benton: And this is exactly where you want to be when you first start as an attorney. And remember that you have a choice as to when you make that transition, which can be before you start, which is I would personally recommend, but if not, then you’re going to have to do it after you start, and that’s going to be the more difficult road to travel down, because it’s going to mean simply just taking a much [00:08:00] longer period of time to become the effective powerhouse attorney I know is already there inside of you, so you want to run towards that person.
[00:08:09] Scott Benton: I’m Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in to our show. I hope it’s been helpful and I hope it’s been useful information for you to think about and even implement on your journey to becoming a truly excellent attorney. Now, if this is valuable information for you and you’d like to receive an alert every time we put out a new episode, you can go to our website.
[00:08:29] Scott Benton: Our website is classroom2courtroom. com. That’s Classroom, the number two court room. courtroom. com. You can leave us your contact information and you will receive an alert whenever we put out a new episode. And if you do find this podcast to be of tremendous value, which I hope you don’t forget to share and subscribe.
[00:08:45] Scott Benton: That will also help you, by the way, stay on top of our newest episodes. And until next time, we hope you’ll join us in making the world a better place, one client at a time. Thank you so much.
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