1. Keeping Your Legal Career on Track January 21, 2010 NYC Bar Association Joseph Brazil

2. WHITE & CASE 2 Background  Partner in Bank Finance group of White & Case’s NY office  Section representative to Career Development and Recruiting Committee

3. WHITE & CASE 3 Topics for Discussion  Adjusting to New Economy – NY Times Article  Taking Control of Your Career  Why do it  How to do it  Resources  Identifying and utilizing resources available to you

4. WHITE & CASE 4 Taking Stock  Why did you decide to become a lawyer?  Has practicing been what you thought it would be?  Where did you think your career would be at this stage in your life?  What obstacles have you encountered? What opportunities have you been presented with?  Do you have career goals? What are they and what are you doing regularly to pursue these goals?  How much time do you spend on a monthly basis doing something to further your career?

5. WHITE & CASE 5 New Economy/New Times  Legal community experiencing significant change  Need to change with the times and be strategic and smart about what you are doing  Following along blindly no longer works  Two key things:  Educate and prepare yourself  Develop a strategy and goals and hold yourself accountable  Remember: It is not reasonable to expect others to spend time on your career development if you will not do it for yourself.

6. WHITE & CASE 6 Developing a Career Strategy and Goals What you CAN’T control: * Economy * Your employer’s business decisions * To a certain degree, whether or not you are let go What you CAN control: * Setting, evaluating and modifying your professional goals * Educating yourself and gaining substantive knowledge * Playing to your strengths and managing your weaknesses * Quality of your work * Situational awareness and professionalism * Degree to which you identify and seize opportunities

7. WHITE & CASE 7 Getting Started – The “College” Approach  Internal Resources  Colleagues at firm/employer  Professional development staff/human resources  Library – access to written materials  Evaluations and self-assessments (more later)  Training programs  Intranet  Knowledge banks  Announcements regarding new deals/cases and resolved and closed matters  Alumni website

8. WHITE & CASE 8 Getting Started  External Resources  Family, friends and neighbors  Bar associations  Alumni networks (both academic and former employers)  Career coaches/counselors  CLE events  Trade events  Clients

9. WHITE & CASE 9 Identify and Seize Opportunities  Do not always expect something in return – money, billable hours etc. Take advantage of an opportunity because you may meet someone new, gain visibility, learn something and somehow further your career.  Be objective and take advantage of opportunities regardless of what others may think.  Be open and whenever possible take a chance. You never know where it may lead.

10. WHITE & CASE 10 Maximizing Law Firm Experience  Be a good “firm citizen”  Do good work and treat people with respect  Be responsive  Have a good attitude  Volunteer to help out and demonstrate willingness to learn  Do not bad mouth firm and/or colleagues  Take your role seriously and do what you are asked to do when you are asked to do it. Meet and respect deadlines.  Teach and mentor

11. WHITE & CASE 11 Maximizing Law Firm Experience – Evaluations and Feedback  Sole purpose of evaluation meeting is to talk about you and your career development. This is a conversation about YOU so be prepared to talk the majority of the time.  Get a copy of the evaluation form and understand your firm’s evaluation process  Prepare, prepare, prepare  Review deals/cases worked on  Note achievements and classes attended  Complete self-evaluations  Meet deadlines and review junior attorneys if asked to do so  Come prepared like it is a job interview  Ask questions. Get specific. Identify your developmental needs and ask reviewers what resources are available to help you. Hold them accountable in a professional manner.

12. WHITE & CASE 12 Maximizing Law Firm Experience – Evaluations and Feedback  Handling Feedback  All Good – Be happy and proud but you always have something you could be better at so probe deeper and get evaluators to discuss with you.  Mixed/Neutral – Figure out what you need to improve on and discuss next steps.  Negative – Do not get defensive or angry. Appropriate to ask for time to think about the comments and come back to them within a week. Take time to reflect on comments and figure out what happened – could be a matter of perception, miscommunication etc. Own your mistakes and discuss ways to move forward. Follow-up if you say you are going to do so.