Summary: Attorneys looking to work and stay working at big law firms need to avoid making these 10 mistakes.
Read 10 Biggest Career Mistakes Big Law Firm Attorneys Make (and 10 Ways to Survive in a Big Firm) to learn more.
Life is full of mistakes. The good part about making these mistakes is that someone else has likely already made them and learned from them, providing us with advice on how to survive the mistake. Harrison Barnes is one of those that have experienced mistakes of his own and those of attorneys that he works with so follow his advice to prevent making career mistakes.
Read Harrison Barnes Explains Why Attorneys Need to Keep Working.
10 Biggest Mistakes
- Get psyched out and quit because they get a bad review, experience difficult legal issues, get promises for a better lifestyle at another firm, get a small bonus, made a big mistake, get treated badly by a superior, feel disfavored, don’t have enough work, and feel underqualified compared to their peers.
- Not billing enough hours will cause a law firm to dump you because your job is to bill hours.
- Joining a new branch office is mostly bad because you are leaving the nest where the decision-makers of whether you get fired or not work so you lose that personal connection with them.
- Forming sexual relations with superiors or any coworker in general is never smart.
- Working as a contract attorney set you up for a financial and career loss. Law firms don’t want someone working for them that can’t keep a steady job.
- Taking too much time off work shows you lack ambition and commitment to the law firm.
- Leaving a law firm without another job already lined up will put in the category of an undesirable and unemployable attorney.
- Lying gets you nowhere in life, especially at a law firm. Attorneys must be trusted, especially by their peers and clients so even lying about something minor is career suicide.
- Bad mouthing your clients or law firm. Eventually what you say about them will reach their ears.
- Not following attendance rules. No matter how many hours you are billing, not showing up to work before the partners are there and leaving before them puts you in a vulnerable position.
Do you agree with these mistakes? Tell us other mistakes that attorneys can make in the comments below.
To learn more about unemployed attorneys, read 12 Reasons You Can’t Land an Interview.
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