How do I progress my career as a junior lawyer?I am a lawyer working in a very niche commercial law area, and I am fearful that I have pigeonholed myself into a career that does not have upward mobility. How can I more effectively apply for jobs at top tier firms and transition my career?I have all the credentials, I have billed over $700,000 in the last year, I excel at upselling clients, and I am very personable.Despite these factors, I am stressing that my career is dead in the water. The firm I work at pays almost minimum wage, and I want to improve my situation. All my applications are met with auto-rejections, offers of low pay, being told I am over-qualified, or being told that I am too junior in my career to make the jump to greener grass.Background:I have a Liberal Arts undergrad (double majored in legal studies and journalism), a Law degree, and relevant post-graduate studies.I interned for three years at a mid-tier commercial firm that effectively no longer exists, completed three short contract stints as a paralegal (2 - 6 months at three different firms. Multinational NGO, boutique commercial firm, and a criminal firm). I learned a lot at each of these, getting courtroom experience, flying into and out of other sates for work, and learning the basics. I was made redundant at two when they could not afford to retain any juniors, and the third did not have the financial capabilities to extend my contract.I now also have a little over a year at my current firm. I enjoy the work, however, I am fearful that given how niche it is I might not be growing my career. It is commercial law but a very niche aspect of it.What should I do?
if you are asking /biz/ about your legal career, yes, it is dead
>>62265003Sick burn, bro
>>62264989I am not a lawyer I know nothing about law firmsbut I am a business owner and I do know that the sort of person I'd take on as a partner is either a competitor or an employee capable of starting a competing business. I would humbly suggest that the instant you either strike out on your own or start asking questions about the business side of things you might meet with greater success. Law I believe is one of those professions where working for other people doesn't pay that great, but starting your own firm mints millionaires fast.
>>62265038I do not think that I am yet ready to start my own business, that might be a goal which I will achieve in the next five to ten years, but currently I am still at a stage where there are issues which I cannot solve without a more senior lawyer to bounce ideas off of.I really do love the idea of starting my own business someday though. The sales aspect is absolutely one of my favourite parts of my job.
>>62265050keep learning, you'll get it. another thing to keep in mind is starting your own business doesn't necessarily mean losing your mentors. Over the years I've let a few employees go so they could strike out on their own. I still give them advice if they need it. A competitor isn't necessarily an enemy, and also you don't necessarily have to work in direct competition with your current firm. Though that depends exactly HOW niche we're talking. But often moving to a different area to start a biz will avoid competition and keep your former employer around as a resource or even to partner on big jobs
>>62264989I scored a 178 on the LSAT while stoned when I was 19. What did you score?
>>62265055This is might doxx me, but I'll risk it. I work in Trust Law / pension planning. Basically just cook up trust documents, and our country's version of a pension fund, and deal with that.It is very niche in that, the big firms offer it, however, they overcharge and underdeliver, and the few firms that offer competitive rates (and grab the market share) are firms with economy of scale. Meaning, they might only be a team of five to ten lawyers, but they do the vast majority of the work in the country. Outside of my firm, which is, arguably, one of the best, the competitors are few and far between. They are so niche that my boss knows most of their leaders, haha.>I still give them advice if they need it.That is incredibly altruistic of you. You should be very proud of that.>moving to a different area to start a bizI would love to do this someday. The main areas my skills are currently tailored to trust law, commercial work, and I am pretty decent at migration law. However, migration law has the difficulty of requiring a pipeline of migrants, and beating out the firms that already have that established can be tricky I imagine.How did you decide which area to carve out your niche in?Also, would you say that it is better to be a jack of all trades, master of none, or just a master of one?
>>62265121Congratulations, that is very impressive. Did you go on and work in law?
>>62265191Sorry, to expand upon the economy of scale thought. It would be difficult to break into the industry when Trust law is more than just the legal documents which I work on. You need a team that deals with company registrations, admin, and a lot of extraneous work/factors that I as a lawyer never touch but are essential to developing the Trust so I have something to work with. I hope that makes sense, but if it doesn't I am more than happy to elaborate.
>>62265195No, I work in finance. Didn't feel like going to school any longer. How are the women in law school?
