First Day in Court

We conquer several major firsts in our lives. Although some of the first seem intimidating, once we conquer our fears and accomplish the task, in time, our fears ease. In time, not overnight.

My first day in court was two years into practicing law. Actually, I take that back. My first say in court was before I was even licensed to practice, but at the time, I sat in the back of the courtroom and performed last minute research.

My first time appearing before a judge was in Santa Rosa Bankruptcy Court. I began working for a bankruptcy attorney and my first day on the job was also my first day in court. She called me over the weekend to tell me about a motion I needed to argue on Monday. I saw the motion for the first time on Sunday night. I was to drive two hours to Santa Rosa the next day, to argue a motion I had only seen the night before. To add salt to the wound, I was to argue it alone, without my supervising attorney there.

In the end, the motion was granted. But the entire courtroom knew this was my first time. For starters, I checked in with the Trustee instead of the Court Clerk. The Trustee was kind enough to direct me to the Court Clerk. Then, when my line item was called, I spoke before I got to the podium. Finally, I had no clue that I would be arguing the motion to the Trustee, first. I guess Santa Rosa does things differently. So I was not prepared to state the reason for the motion, not was I even aware that they were calling my motion.

Talk about trial by fire. 

First Day on the Job at a Firm

I am starting this week on a temorary placement at a respected law firm. I take with me the wisdom from previous experiences.

And in taking my sucesses and my failures in stride, I came up with a list of what to do and what not to do when entering the legal workforce.

1. Do not underestimate the value of your appearance! Looks matter. Although many attorneys will say that they don't care what you wear to work, so long as you do the job right, there definitely is a certain stigma that is attached to you by way of your appearance. I have seen it with my own eyes. I have seen judges look with disdain at attorneys who wore bright colors and flashy shoes to court. I have seen the disparity in the way I get treated when I wear a suit, a dress or jeans.

My advice- wear muted colors and limit your accessories. Brown, biege, gray or navy-blue work very well. The image you want to get across is that you care more about your work than your clothes. Of course, you could easily accomplish this by wearing jeans and a t-shirt to work. too, but jeans and a T-shirt scream the word "slacker!".

2. Do not socialize unecessarily! You are there to work. It's understandable that you might want to build relationships and strengthen your bridges at your new firm, but there will always be time for that. Your priority should really be competence. You need to get the job done. For the first while, skip lunch and eat at your desk if you must. Don't stop at the offices of others and strike up conversation on the first day. You will have plenty of time to do that once you have proven yourself. For the first while, it will be the quality of your work and not your personality that will get you more points.

3. Go in early and work late. Get there before most of the other people in the office do and leave later than the rest. You don't necessarily need to be the first person in the office nor the last one to leave, but look at your timings relative to everyone else and be a notch more conservative than the rest.

4. Pay attention to the quality of your work! Your work will be the most important factor in making your first impression. Take down your assignments with a note-pad and work hard. Stay focused and ask questions if you don't know what you are doing. Also, try to gage your employer's expectations of the assignment and if you can, try to get hold of a sample of what he/she wants from you.

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The Diversity Initiative

Many firms have implemented supposed "Diversity Initiatives" in recent years as a response to the underepresentation of minorities in the practice of law. How honest are these initiatives? How many firms honestly care about increasing diversity in the workplace? Lately, many firms have been taking supposed pro-active steps to foster an environment that favors diversity. But do the words "equal opportunity employer" on a firm's website really mean that they intend to hire visible minorities? Does hiring a Diversity Director exonerate a firm from it's duty to create a true and reflective environment where diversity can thrive?

In 2003, the Equal Opportunity Commission issued a report on the representation of minorities and women as professionals in law firms. The report found that the representation of women in the legal workforce has more than doubled since 1975, from 14.4% to 40.3% in 2002. Yet, although the representation of women in the legal workforce is relatively proportionate to the number of women receiving JDs, the representation of racial minorities has yet to follow such example. For example, the representation of African Americans and Hispanics in the professional legal workforce is still proportionate to approximately half of the number who earn JDs.

Statistics aside, I happen to know a few partners at prominent law firms who are from visible minority groups. Of course, I do benefit from living in San Francisco, where diversity is the norm. My one favorite example of diversity in action is the junior partner at a prominent litigation firm who happens to be a Muslim woman wearing the head scarf. Conversely, I also know people who left large law firms, claiming that they felt that their ethnicity made their chances of growth much harder. I remember asking an Asian attorney from another well respected litigation firm about the diversity at his firm. He replied by telling me that his coworkers would often confuse him with another Asian attorney who was a whole foot shorter than him!

As the economy continues to globalize, law firms across America will need to reflect this globalization by retaining attorneys from various ethnic groups. And if law firms are unprepared to do this, we will probably soon see many smaller practices and solo attorneys popping up across the nation, reflecting the diversity of law graduates.

Perhaps, then, it will be the small firms and solos who initiate the change.

Related Links

• The Diversity Initiative: Is it really making a difference in law firms? (Prudentpurse.com)