Foreword

Lawyers at Work is a wonderful compilation of the eclectic and varied careers available to someone with a law degree. While perhaps most useful for those contemplating going to law school, or in law school, it is a fascinating read for anyone who is at all curious about what lawyers actually “do.”

As a current federal judge who “did” criminal defense work as a lawyer, this was an eye-opener even for me. It’s a real down-in-the-weeds look at what attorneys do every day: a family trust and estates lawyer in Florida who battles prolific fraud against the elderly; an entertainment lawyer who works with “hippie film makers like George Lucas” and helps creative authors bring their writings to fruition in a TV series or a movie; an entrepreneur who left legal practice to found a “profit-for-purpose” company that provided underprivileged kids with tutoring, test preparation, admissions advising, and mentoring; a law professor who studies stand-up comedy, the fashion industry, and cuisine in order to argue for more First Amendment freedom against prolific copyright laws; an American lawyer working in Paris, negotiating a multi-cross-cultural deal involving a Japanese-owned company headquartered in New Jersey buying a French-owned company in France; a director of a lawyer alliance in New York who in one year provided nearly 700 nonprofit groups with legal advice from a network of 1,400 volunteer lawyers.

Several of these attorneys knew even as children they wanted to be lawyers, while others meandered down accidental paths to law school, including one who admitted to being “completely clueless for about ten years” out of college before finding her way to law school. The author of this foreword sympathizes, having gone from college to working as a secretary, then to graduate journalism school, then to volunteering in civil rights, and then to law school—at which point her father began to despair if she would ever have a real job.

Some of these attorneys work in high-power regimented corporate offices with hundreds of other lawyers—while others operate in mom-and-pop outfits without a whole lot of rules. One attorney works in a firm specializing in police misconduct, wrongful incarceration, First Amendment claims, unlawful discrimination, and emphasizing a close relationship with each individual client—a holistic approach with empathy a foremost characteristic.

These lawyers also provide invaluable advice to those currently in law school: network with the school’s alumni, even while in school. Get advice from them about legal and nonlegal careers. Also, cultivate and maintain friendships with your classmates. They become lifelong allies and resources as your career hits the inevitable twists and bumps in the road.

Other advice is more philosophical: “The biggest difficulty for students when they actually begin to work as a lawyer … is transitioning from doing what they’re told, which is how to excel in school, to doing what they want, which is how to excel in life and at a career… Chart your own path.”

Some also provide terrific advice on good lawyering in the courtroom: “You want to tell a narrative, as opposed to just a bunch of little pieces of information. You want to teach. You want to simplify complicated concepts and make them understandable for the jury. And you want to keep the jury engaged and interested.” The same attorney emphasizes establishing your “credibility” by knowing the evidence well, even to the point of memorizing exhibit numbers, and telling the story in a calm way that is supported by the evidence.

All in all, Lawyers at Work is a fascinating read. Among other things, I finally learned what a “derivative” is!

Helen G. Berrigan

United States District Judge

Eastern District of Louisiana