Vaniatos

After passing the bar exam, new lawyers probably don't want (more) unsolicited advice—but it might be what they need. In more than 20 years writing about the legal profession, I've seen countless ways attorneys make mistakes. I've seen just as many examples of how they've succeeded.

For the third year in a row, we asked experienced members of the bar to offer their thoughts to rookie lawyers. This year's batch includes sage thoughts about humility, fees, more humility, mentors, hard work, diversity, telling the truth, finding a job, saying yes to requests for help, saying no to others—and a little more humility. We hope you find it useful.

You're Going to Fail.

You just passed what may have felt like the biggest test of your life, but at some point you will fall short as an attorney. You may not connect with a client in an important way. Your argument may fall flat before the court, or opposing counsel may show you why we are all “practicing” law. All of those things may happen in the same case, on the same day. Every attorney has been brought back to earth at some point or another. The key is what you do next.

I hope whatever your story of “failure” is, it serves to make you better.