[00:00:00]
[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, having passed the bar, and where we make the practice of law fun, something that we like to do here on the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast.
[00:00:25] Scott Benton: Now today we’re going to answer the question of why is starting your legal career so difficult? Why is starting your legal career so difficult?
[00:00:34] Scott Benton: [00:01:00] Now for a lot of newer attorneys, not all of them, but a lot, getting their legal career fully up to speed, it’s not always the easiest thing to do. And in a lot of ways, That’s the very premise of our podcast.
[00:01:37] Scott Benton: It’s why we’re giving you this information to work with and take to your first attorney job. In fact, it’s entirely possible that if you listen to the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast, that in a way, you’re going to end up making a lot more money as an attorney because you’re With this information that we talk about here, [00:02:00] especially where the success cycle is concerned and the success cycle describes the three stages that we think you should move through as you perform legal services at the firm that you work at.
[00:02:13] Scott Benton: Not only is this podcast going to help you advance Faster if you know the success cycle and if you listen to the ideas in this podcast and use them But it’s also going to help you advance further. You’re going to advance faster and further because you’re not reinventing the wheel. It means that you’re likely not going to have to go through as much trial and error as you figure out how to practice law as an attorney because you already have this information in your head.
[00:02:44] Scott Benton: This podcast is the shortcut. Now the first reason that a lot of people find it difficult to get their legal career going is because It’s simply hard to do. You’re going to be absolutely bombarded with new [00:03:00] subjects and new processes and not to mention new laws that come in. Laws are always changing.
[00:03:06] Scott Benton: And you know what else is changing? Is the technology. Technology is also changing. And well, you name it, everything’s always changing and it changes fast. In fact, every single day. You’re most likely going to be confronted with something that you don’t understand or that you’re uncomfortable learning about that uncomfortable feeling is going to become really more the rule than it’s going to be the exception.
[00:03:32] Scott Benton: You’re going to be uncomfortable all the time, meaning you don’t know what the process is, or you don’t understand this particular. Let’s say Internet platform or you don’t understand what the process is for one thing or another. So the entire key is instead of pushing away from that discomfort, you want to lean into that feeling.
[00:03:52] Scott Benton: You want to lean into it as much as you can and you want to know that you’re going to be in that uncomfortable [00:04:00] space over and over and over again. You want to recognize it for what it is when you’re suddenly there. And then here’s the whole secret. You want to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. So when it comes along that discomfort, you can push right through it. Remember lean into it. You say, oh, hello discomfort and then just keep going. Just go right into it.
[00:04:22] Scott Benton: Next. A lot of new attorneys go to their first jobs expecting the law firm to sit down with them and teach them all about how to practice as an attorney. Now, why is that? Why do a lot of new attorneys have this expectation? The reason is because in most law schools, the expectation that they’re taught, that’s talked about, is that law firms are going to take care of that part of your education.
[00:04:51] Scott Benton: Schools are in the education business and a lot of times whatever business you’re in, you sort of see the world through that lens. So a [00:05:00] law school, being in the business of education, is going to look at the world through the lens of education and they’re going to assume that law firms are going to sit you down and teach you how to practice law as an attorney.
[00:05:13] Scott Benton: But you have to understand that the law firms expect that you already have that experience and that you already know how to practice as an attorney. They don’t want to sit around and teach you. You’re done with school, and you’re now licensed to practice law. A law firm is definitely not a formal classroom, and the law firm partners, or the attorneys that are there, they’re not teachers, they’re attorneys.
[00:05:41] Scott Benton: They expect you to come in and perform legal services, and then bill for the work. that you’ve performed and then get paid and start all over again. That benefits you and it benefits the law firm.
[00:05:54] Scott Benton: If you expected to be treated like a law school student after you’ve [00:06:00] graduated and you’re actually an attorney and you’re now in your first job, As an attorney, wouldn’t you then also expect to pay tuition to the law firm the way that you paid tuition to your law school? Of course not. Incidentally, that’s why this podcast exists in the first place.
[00:06:18] Scott Benton: We’re filling that weird catch 22 gap that you’re going to fall into when you get into your first job as an attorney. And we’re talking about everything that law school doesn’t teach you about practicing law. This is critical information that you need to have when you go into your first job as an attorney so that you better understand what it means to practice law.
[00:06:43] Scott Benton: What that looks like because you’re not going to get that in law school. So with that in mind, You’re probably going to want to listen to the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. It’s going to give you all the information that you simply didn’t receive. Now, the next reason that so many new attorneys [00:07:00] have difficulty getting their career up and running is because when you become an attorney, You are not magically then transformed into attorney.
[00:07:08] Scott Benton: You’re still the same person with the same information in your brain, as I’m sure you know. It’s sort of like the idea of graduation, and it doesn’t matter which graduation, any graduation, but since you probably just went through one when you graduated law school, we’ll take law school graduation. Notice that law school graduation, it’s called commencement.
[00:07:31] Scott Benton: That’s what they put down on the schedule. The schedule, it’s called commencement. And it’s called commencement because it comes at the end of your schooling. And a lot of people just assume that commencement means the end, because they just probably don’t think about it. But if you look up the word commencement, commencement actually means the beginning.
[00:07:53] Scott Benton: You’re beginning something. So, in a similar manner, becoming an attorney is the [00:08:00] beginning of your career. It’s not the end of your studies, and any time you’re at the beginning of something, it means that you have a lot to continue to learn and brush up on, so you may need to adjust your expectations. As having already arrived as an attorney when you start your first job working at a law firm.
[00:08:21] Scott Benton: In fact, if you ask attorneys who’ve been practicing, for a long time. Even 25 years. If they have 25 years of experience, let’s say every single day, they’re still learning something new and they’ll tell you that. Now, lastly, as a freshly minted attorney straight off the press, it means no one is giving you work to do anymore.
[00:08:45] Scott Benton: When you were an intern or a law clerk before you got your bar results and found out that you passed and that you’re now an attorney, most likely you were busy waiting for an attorney to hand over instructions on what they needed you to do on a case [00:09:00] which is a passive work style.
[00:09:01] Scott Benton: That’s a little bit more like being in law school. Law school is much more passive. Working at a law firm is much more active. There’s some crossover, but for the most part, law school’s passive. Working in a law firm is active. When you were a clerk or when you were an intern, you were still in a passive capacity.
[00:09:23] Scott Benton: People were giving you work. However, when you become an attorney yourself, you are now the person that you’re waiting for to give you assignments. So the quality of your work starts to have a lot more weight to it. When you were a law clerk, if you messed something up and the attorney didn’t catch it, the attorney was the one who got in trouble.
[00:09:46] Scott Benton: Now, as an attorney yourself, if you mess something up, guess who gets the blame? You do. But again, that’s why we’ve put together this entire Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. It’s why we’re going to be tremendously valuable as a [00:10:00] resource to you, as you build your professional career as an attorney, with all of the assistance that you’re going to need to get there.
[00:10:07] Scott Benton: That’s what we’re going to be talking about. That’s what we’re going to be giving to you, and you want to focus in. on every little detail about the success cycle, which is what we talk about and reference quite a bit on this podcast.
[00:10:20] Scott Benton: So I hope that’s been valuable and helpful information and taking a quick look into why starting your legal career can sometimes be so difficult and what to do about it. My name is Scott Benton. I’m the host of the Classroom 2 Courtroom podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. And if you like this material and you want to get an alert every time we put out a new episode, you can go to our website.
[00:10:42] Scott Benton: Our website is classroom2courtroom. com. That’s classroom2courtroom. com. You can leave us your contact information. You’ll get an alert every time we put out a new episode. And that way you can keep up with us. Now, if you do like this material, don’t forget to share, like, and subscribe. If you’d like to stay on top of all of our newest [00:11:00] episodes, that’s another way that you can do it.
[00:11:01] Scott Benton: 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.
