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: Magic Cookie

Firm advice

On the last day of my Legal Profession class, the professor stuck around afterwards and bought us pizza. I had been meaning to get to office hours all semester, but somehow it never happened, so I was glad to have a chance to ask him my burning question: was I completely naive to believe the things that my firm has been telling me? That I'll be able to balance work with my outside life, that I'll do lots of pro bono and have plenty of mentoring and training opportunities? We spent several weeks discussing how large law firms work, and I often left class feeling grim.

He told me that I should keep in mind all the things I believe about the firm, and hold them to it. If they said I could do pro bono, do pro bono. If they said I could leave to have dinner with my family, leave to have dinner with my family.

He said pressure tends to be internal -- if everyone feels like they have to come in the earliest and leave the latest and compete for the largest projects, then that becomes the norm.

It reminded me of what a friend told me. She usually leaves at six and goes home to her family. "And that's okay with the firm?" I asked. She replied, "Nobody's said anything to me yet."

Which is exactly his advice, I think. Don't worry about whether what they're telling you is true. Just act as if is.

Full post as published by Magic Cookie on May 05, 2008 (boomark / email).