Though passing the bar was one of the happiest moments of my life, it was also a frightening realization that I was a lawyer. I was a lawyer. Now I had to know everything. I had to be able to file a case, try it, win it or take it to the Supreme Court….okay so I exaggerate a little, but at the moment the pressure felt that big. I felt like a rookie at the free throw line with the game on the line and trade talks around the corner.
Despite the fact that I worked for my firm as a law clerk for a year and a half before becoming an attorney, I was still nervous and anxious about the responsibilities I would take on as a first year associate. I immediately felt compelled to print old outlines from my Civil Procedure and Torts courses, to bring out all my Examples and Explanations (a.k.a. E&E’s), and to read the Daily Journal every day to become more “lawyerly”…so that I could speak the language that my bosses spoke and actually understand them. I didn’t want to disappoint them or make them regret hiring me. I refused to be the Kwame Brown of my firm.
Although my supervising attorneys were excellent teachers and mentors, I wanted to impress them with brilliant knowledge that I stole from someone else and passed off as my own. I wanted them to think that they signed a Kobe Bryant or a Dwayne Wade, even though I felt like an Adam Morrison.
So, I started to search for knowledge. I began attending networking events hosted by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the Consumer Attorneys of California, and the American Association for Justice. After a few events, I learned that each of these organizations provide a subcommittee or caucus that could be beneficial to me as a new lawyer. Each of these organizations provide materials, programs, and services, aimed at helping to develop new lawyers and their skills in this profession.
The CAALA New Lawyers Committee is geared toward Consumer Attorney Association of Los Angeles members who have been admitted to practice for less than 10 years. The committee provides "professional networking, inspiration, professional development, and political awareness of the larger issues that face our profession and the justice system as a whole." The committee meets once a month where they host either a speaker series or a Q&A session with a judge. Speaker topics range from building your firm, to discovery, to trial preparation, to handling mass torts cases and class actions. The committee also has booklets and handouts on various topics which are beneficial to a new trial lawyer.
What I’ve taken away from this committee is that I don’t need to know it all. In fact no one knows it all. There are attorneys in this group who have been practicing anywhere from 1-10 years who still need help and aren’t ashamed to ask for it. The great thing is that everyone in this group is ready and willing to help or provide guidance. I encourage all new attorneys to consider joining this group. The next New Lawyers Committee meeting will be held on February 16, 2010 at the CAALA office. The featured speaker is Jack Denove who will be speaking on “Admitting Documents at Trial.”
The Consumer Attorneys of California Women's Caucus is another organization that has been instrumental to my development as an attorney, most importantly as a female attorney. The Women’s Caucus was formed to not only further the mission of CAOC itself but also to provide a means to leadership for women members. The goal of this caucus is to “provide a forum to assist women in forming professional relationships, create mentoring opportunities, sponsor social events, and create and implement strategies for increasing the number of women in the profession, as well as in CAOC membership.”
Though I have only recently become more involved in the Caucus, it has thus far provided me with an idea of what I can do as a female trial attorney to shape this profession to fit my goals. It has provided me with examples of women that I can look up to and reach out to as mentors. More importantly, it has shown me avenues of getting my voice heard to implement the changes I want to see in this profession. Their next event will be the Women Networking Reception on February 25, 2010, at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
During my first year as an attorney I took on Los Angeles through CAALA and California through CAOC. Now that I’ve become a second year attorney I feel like I’ve graduated to a new level and will take on the nation through the American Association for Justice (AAJ)….more specifically through their New Lawyers Division. AAJ’s ultimate goal is to promote a fair and effective justice system on a national level. “The [New Lawyer] Division works with AAJ to encourage continuing education, scholarships, and increased proficiency by developing and advancing affordable programs, materials, services, and products specifically designated to assist and benefit New Lawyers.” I expect that I will benefit from this organization the same way that I have from the aforementioned groups, but on a national level. I am most excited about utilizing the Document Library to find discovery, motions and briefs or other pleadings to guide me with my cases.
After a year and two months of practicing law I’m still not ready to go to the Supreme Court, but the difference now is that I know I don’t have to be ready. I don’t need to be Kareem Abdul Jabbar right away. I'm content with being Andrew Bynum, new to the game but with so much potential to make it my own……and these organizations will provide me with the tools necessary to do that.
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