Arizona Attorney - September 2017

I enjoy the practice of law—well, most days. I enjoy helping people, the work is always interesting, and it pays well. But for many of us, it was not always this way.

The first several years of practicing law can be demanding, stressful and overwhelming. For me, it was the guidance of many great mentors over the years that helped me learn the art, the profession, the business, and the nuts and bolts of the practice of law. They made the difference.

So how can the next generation of lawyers truly learn the profession when the large firms aren’t hiring in large numbers, the smaller firms can’t provide “on the job” training, or a newly admitted lawyer simply can’t find work in a structured atmosphere?

As your new State Bar President, one of my primary focuses over the next year will be to learn whether the next generation of lawyers is getting appropriate mentoring and experience, and whether the Bar can do more. That’s important because the art of being a great attorney is not learned in books or the classroom. It’s learned through hard work, perseverance and experience (aka bad decisions). Paired with those elements, some great mentors can help propel you forward even more quickly. In the age of smartphones, the Internet and Wikipedia, are the more senior members of the Bar now considered obsolete? I certainly hope not.

I would like to hear from the members of the Bar—particularly the newer members—and have a dialogue over the next year. If members have practice questions or issues they would like to have addressed in this column, please send me an email. Hopefully I or one of my seasoned mentors will be able to answer your questions and provide helpful advice.

This column—and a few that follow—will examine indicators that suggest you could benefit from having a strong mentor in your law practice. Believe it or not, whatever situation you may find yourself in, another lawyer has been there before. Having a mentor with some experience can help clear the fog on which direction to go. And these mentoring tips are not just for the next generation of lawyers, but for everyone who is still honing his or her craft—which I think includes all of us.

So let’s get started. Here are a few indications that a mentor might make a difference in your law practice:

Are you working long hours for clients
who are not paying their bills?

As one of my partners advised me years ago, “You cannot help anyone if you cannot keep your lights on.” Often in our effort to help clients and see their case to a conclusion, we end up inheriting their problems and financial consequences. It takes money to run a firm every month, and if you are not charging for your time, make sure you know your fixed costs to open the doors every month—i.e., monthly operating expenses, divided by your reasonably available time to bill. If you decide to work for no fee by choice, remember that it is actually costing you money. Perhaps you should offer an “at cost” fee instead of, say, $75 per hour. Otherwise, make sure it is a worthy cause that deserves the money it will cost you and the time it will take you away from your other interests and family. If you are in a pattern where you keep having files that are not paying and that later become your problem, it may be time for a mentor in your practice.

Do you have a hard time saying “no” to
potential clients?

Again, as one of my mentors aptly put it, “No work is better than bad work.” The client who gives off red flags of being a problem—like shopping on his third (or seventh) new lawyer, an inconsistent recollection of the facts from day to day, facts that don’t sync with records, the sense that the client is accepting no responsibility for the situation, and lawsuits on principle with no tangible result—all of that may be signs to say “No.” And if you can’t say no to potentially bad work, it may be time for a mentor.

Do these issues sound familiar, for you or for colleagues? Next month and in upcoming columns, I’ll cover more of these red-flag situations. And I believe these topics should include some that come from you. I hope to receive your law practice questions to address and your feedback on what I cover. Please send your topics and input to me at sba@vakulalaw.net.