We’ve all seen the headlines about AI-boosted lawyers run amok. Since ChatGPT landed, phantom cases have cropped up in court filings around the country. Judges have responded, meting out sanctions, excoriating counsel, and—more recently—even issuing a flurry of new orders and rules that regulate how litigants can use new AI-based technologies.
As we reflect on our journeys through the legal profession, one theme emerges: the power of mentorship, particularly female mentorship. The power of female mentorship cannot be overstated, as it can play a critical role in transforming a talented yet uncertain junior attorney into a highly skilled and autonomous senior attorney.
It is the final question I pose, when interviewing lawyers to write their bios, as a small part of my legal marketing, PR and communications practice. I will already have digested their standard fare: what they do, what they want to do more of, why what they do really matters and to whom.
My high school trigonometry teacher was, by his own admission, “old school.” He didn’t allow us to use calculators. Ever. Instead, all decimals had to be divided by hand, all formulas known by memory, and all square roots worked out on paper. We were unlikely to walk around with calculators when we got older, he explained, and so we had to be able to work things out with only a pencil and our brain.
Irene walked into the office of a young lawyer in a small town in Mississippi more than 40 years ago with an eviction notice and a two-page lease. Events that would follow turned the lawyer into a legal aid attorney and a believer in the power of pro bono legal work.
The legal job market is robust. And within all those professional journeys there are two types of searchers: those lawyers seeking a job change and those seeking a career change. If you’re in the market, it’s important not to conflate these two paths.
Sometimes in life we are fortunate to meet someone who dedicates everything to a higher calling. For me, this person was David Breaux. While he had few financial resources, David was, by every measure that counts, a rich man.
As a nation, we have made the decision to be governed by the rule of law. This means that as a society, we have agreed to abide by a set of transparent, fairly enacted and fairly applied laws and rules that will govern our conduct in our private and public affairs.
Management consulting firms and Big Four accounting firms have a secret weapon. It’s not particularly well-camouflaged. It’s there for anyone who bothers to look. Both of these thought leaders hire lawyers for a wide variety of nonlegal jobs. And they’ve been doing so for decades—everything from business development to crisis management to marketing.
After my 1L judicial externship at the Federal District Court, I was hooked on the law—and, more specifically, on the joy of writing for a judge. I knew I wanted to pursue a judicial clerkship—the pinnacle gig for someone who loves to mull over words and theories, or decide when…
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
