Law Vibe

From Thrown for a Loop:

Around this time of year, most people start to think of New Year’s resolutions they’ll keep with a vengence for a few weeks, then lose interest in as semesters start, work picks up and all life generally rears its ugly head and shows why you’ve become so fat/inconsiderate/spendthrifty in the first place. This year, I’m not making any yearlong resolutions I can’t keep. Instead, I’m going to focus on the few short months during which I will be a summer associate at my unnamed biglaw firm.

I worry because my last job was a bit of a bust. Sure, I spent the last year or so planning to go to law school, studying for the LSAT, applying to law schools and eventually trying to keep it a secret that I was going to one so as not to have all the grunt work heaped on my desk while the ladder-climbers focused on more enriching work. Despite this, I did spend a year there with no immidiate future plans that I didn’t really take advantage of. I came to resent my boss, moonlighted at a second job, didn’t stay late as a result and generally treated my position within the company as my terminal point.

What I’m going to write may look like boring corporate-speak, but all of those corporate-speak books have a point: you can be a little more self-aware and succeed, or you can let it all hang out and be yourself (your unhappy self). Assuming I can keep myself out of the river during summer associate outings, I’m 95% assured of an offer after the summer is over. That being said, I can set myself up for a good job with potential, or two or three miserable years before I lateral or go in-house somewhere, having not learned how to succeed within an organization. Therefore, I’m going to focus on these things:

Love Thy Boss. He may be the guy who gives you work and chews you out when you screws up, but he’s the guy you’re stuck with, so hating him is counterproductive. Smile. Be nice.

No Resentment. Sometimes people do better than you because they’re kiss-asses, they’re smarter, more attractive or just plain lucky. Their success doesn’t have to mean your failure, so try and stay out of rivalries and make friends.

Don’t Mock People. Many people will pretend to have a sense of humor about it even if they hate it. Stay positive when talking about your coworkers.

Keep it Rated G. Your friends may love your patently offensive humor, but not everybody does, nor should you expect them to right out of the gate.