Lawyers At Work

"With probing questions and articulate answers, Cosslett and her subjects shed light on the challenges of legal practice in the current legal market." BLS Law Notes, 11.16.12 Lawyers at Work reveals what it means and what it takes to be a satisfied, sane, and successful lawyer in today’s tough legal marketplace. Through incisive in-depth interviews, a top legal headhunter gives the 3rd degree to 15 successful lawyers who run the gamut of the legal profession. Practice areas represented in these profiles range from employment discrimination to corporate defense, from federal white collar prosecution to the legal structuring of complex derivative instruments, from antitrust in DC to trusts & estates in Florida, from divorce in New York to international mergers in Paris, from intellectual property in Silicon Valley to creeping expropriation in India, and from entertainment law in Hollywood to welfare rights in the Bronx. Law firm sizes range from one of the biggest in the world with over two thousand lawyers to a one-lawyer general practice. Career levels range from biglaw partners and courtroom superstars to mid-level associates and ex-lawyers. Though many of the interviewees in Lawyers at Work are generic adversaries, the interviewer brings out commonalities in their ways of working, methods of reasoning, and sources of personal motivation. Readers hear from the practitioner’s own unbuttoned lips about their career formation, daily work grind, victories and setbacks, guiding principles, professional rewards, and practical advice for aspiring lawyers.

"Today more than ever, all members of a law firm must work together as a team for the benefit of clients. Coordinating and getting the most out of everyone's contributions is the responsibility of a firm's managers. Helping you accelerate your growth as a manager of lawyers and legal professionals, this is a comprehensive and practical guide that includes the checklists, charts, and resources attorneys and managers need to lead thriving and resilient firms." -- Publisher's website.

Written by Harvard-trained ex-law firm partner Liz Brown, Life After Law: Finding Work You Love with the J.D. You Have provides specific, realistic, and honest advice on alternative careers for lawyers. Unlike generic career guides, Life After Law shows lawyers how to reframe their legal experience to their competitive advantage, no matter how long they have been in or out of practice, to find work they truly love. Brown herself moved from a high-powered partnership into an alternative career and draws from this experience, as well as that of dozens of former practicing attorneys, in the book. She acknowledges that changing careers is hard much harder than it was for most lawyers to get their first legal job after law school but it can ultimately be more fulfilling for many than a life in law. Life After Law offers an alternative framework and valuable analytic tools for potential careers to help launch lawyers into new fields and make them attractive hires for non-legal employers.

Is a job in the legal profession right for you? What qualifications do you need to be attractive to employers? How do you find a job that fits your interests? Jobs in the Canadian Legal Marketplace guides you through all of these steps and more. It includes detailed information on: A legal education and what is needed to enter the field Types of legal jobs and duties, and where to find them How to create a professional portfolio and job application Interviewing and landing your dream job Current trends in the Canadian legal marketplace This book is essential for law students, paralegals, and practicing lawyers navigating the Canadian legal profession. From researching the field to negotiating a salary, this practical guide provides step-by-step advice on all aspects of finding work in the Canadian legal system.

The authors look at how divorce lawyers work to address the question of legal professionalism in practice. Through a systematic study of legal practice at the micro-level, they show how lawyers create their own controls over work through their social relationships, formal and informal norms, common knowledge, and shared values. While much of the research on legal professionalism centers on the formal standards of the bar as reflected in codes of professional responsibility, the authors show how the discretionary judgments that lawyers make, and the choices they face, are actually understood in relation to norms and standards of other lawyers with whom they interact or compare themselves.

The Lawyer's Guide to Balancing Life and Work, Second Edition is about how the law fits inside you, not how you fit inside the law. Making space for creativity and passion within your current workplace and at home can yield enormous emotional rewards. In the end, this book will support you whether you stay in the law, shift your law practice, or move on to other work. This book is the tool you need to make healthy decisions and welcome the passion back into your life!

From the bestselling author of The End of Lawyers?, this book predicts fundamental and irreversible changes in the legal world and offers essential practical advice for those who intend to build careers and businesses in law. A definitive guide to the future for aspiring lawyers, and for all who want to modernize today's legal and justice systems.