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Robert C. Dortch, Jr. | Sellers Hinshaw Ayers Dortch & Lyons PA | Charlotte

LaKeshia Banks



LaKeshia Banks is a rising second year law student at North Carolina Central University School of Law. LaKeshia interned with Lawyer’s Mutual in the summer of 2017 as part of the North Carolina Bar Association Minorities in the Profession 1L Summer Associate Program.

lending libraryAccording to Ida Abbot, “Women hold only 37 % of middle management positions, 28 % of vice president and senior management roles, and 14 % of seats on executive committees.” The Wake County Board of Commissioners (Raleigh, NC) initiated a gender pay gap study. The results released this summer show that the legal field has the largest pay gap among the professions studied with a 53% gap between the wages of women and men.

How can those of us in the business world help women advance in companies and push pass their competition? By identifying women who are likely to succeed and sponsoring them.

Ida Abbott, in Sponsoring Women: What Men Need to Know, offers guidance to men and women on how to effectively sponsor women which in turn helps to advance the company. The book defines the difference between mentorship and sponsorship, provides common roles and functions of mentors, and the actions sponsors need to take for protegees. The book focuses on:

· Benefits to sponsorship including increase in compensation

· Essential elements to sponsorship including open communication

· Effective ways to sponsor women including helping her find her niche

· Identifying and addressing common concerns of sponsorship

And much more!

The Lawyers Mutual Lending Library is a free service for policyholders and their staff, covering topics such as practice management, technology, rainmaking, finance, opening a law firm, and transitioning a law practice. Visit us at https://www.lawyersmutualnc.com/risk-management-resources/book-lending-library.

lending librayAs a law student, the end goal is to find employment, whether that’s in public service, in-house counsel, solo practice or in a large firm. How do you gain this employment? By setting yourself apart from others, presenting yourself as a package of unique skills and abilities that will appeal to a wide range of employers. In Roadmap: The Law Student’s Guide to Preparing and Implementing a Successful Plan for Meaningful Employment, Neil Hamilton lays out a roadmap of steps that students can take towards meaningful employment. Those steps range from self-assessment, learning the market, implementing the template, developing skills, building relationships and much more. Here are five things that stood out from my perspective as a first-year law student that I think every student should learn early on:

Learning Legal Competencies
The book explains that many employers are moving towards competency models that are based on characteristics of the most successful attorneys and using those models to assess new employees. Law students should develop these skills while in law school to set themselves apart. These include:
problem solving, analytical skills, pro bono involvement, initiative, crisis management, effective written/oral communication skills, commitment to professional development, research skills and negotiation skills.

The Roadmap Template
The book suggests students implement the roadmap timeline. The timeline is mapped from 1L Fall semester to 3L year and outlines key steps you should be taking at each point.
 

Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness is key in hiring new employees. The book provides an equation for trust and how law students can meet each layer. Trust =(C+R+I)/S. To be trusted requires one to score well in each dimension.Credibility typically begins with an assessment through class rank or grade point average but students can also show a strong record in courses specific to practice area, litigation or transactional work.

  • Reliability requires repeated experiences, so students should look at taking leadership roles in organizations where they can not only set but achieve objectives.
  • Intimacy involves one sharing important matters with you. Students should take courses in negotiation and client interviewing and counseling to ensure they are comfortable dealing with other’s emotions.
  • Self-Orientation is the focus on self-centeredness vs client focus. Students should practice active listening and volunteer for service organizations/projects to show you can work on tasks that are bigger then yourself.

Treat Professors as your client
Employers look not only for dedication to others but commitment and responsiveness to clients. Students should start practicing client service skills by treating their professors as clients. Students should make a list of skills and apply them such as: learning about their professors, sharing articles of interest with them and volunteering to help on projects they have.

Lessons from Entrepreneurship
This section discusses how law students should not only embrace their entrepreneurial spirit but define their mantra, create and deliver their product and create a sustainable business plan. Defining your mantra stood out as a key tip for law students as it focuses on professional formation being the basis of your business which includes:

  • Ongoing solicitation of feedback and self-reflection
  • An internalized standard of excellence at lawyering skills, integrity, honesty and adherence to the ethical codes,
  • Public service, and Independent professional judgment and honest counsel.

The Lawyers Mutual Lending Library is a free service for policyholders and their staff, covering topics such as practice management, technology, rainmaking, finance, opening a law firm, and transitioning a law practice. Visit us at https://www.lawyersmutualnc.com/risk-management-resources/book-lending-library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lending LibraryGreensboro lawyer Afi Johnson-Parris and Dee Schiavelli interview women lawyers across the country to identify their path to success. The key to advancement is often seen in how well you market yourself, your skills and abilities. This is especially true for women. The eleven chapters in Marketing Success: How Did She Do That? provide stories from various women on how their use of marketing tools landed them great opportunities, advancement and exposure. The book covers everything from networking, making the pitch, being retained and more. Here are four tools from the book that I believe could jumpstart your marketing strategy:

Marketing Inside your Practice

  • Women can market themselves internally by offering a new service to a current client, or by viewing partners as clients and working to increase their assignments. Providing a service that the practice is currently lacking will allow you to not only market but build an internal brand.Speaking
  • Speaking engagements allow face time with colleagues, and clients all while showcasing your leadership abilities and knowledge. The book provides a speaking strategy cycle to implement and discusses the advantages to public speaking from a business standpoint.

Personal branding

  • This chapter defines personal branding and details how it is the first step into marketing and building your business. It is important to be intentional about creating your brand, one that is a true reflection of who you are as a person not just as a lawyer.

A Different approach

  • It is important for women to not only think outside of the box but to take chances. Marketing success comes through hard work, careful planning, flexibility and innovation. This chapter reminds us that taking a different approach and being innovative could yield a great result.

The Lawyers Mutual Lending Library is a free service for policyholders and their staff, covering topics such as practice management, technology, rainmaking, finance, opening a law firm, and transitioning a law practice. Visit us at https://www.lawyersmutualnc.com/risk-management-resources/book-lending-library.

 

 

LaKeshia Banks headshotWhen I first decided to go to law school two thoughts ran through my mind: (1) This is exciting and (2) What are you thinking? Here I was, a full time hospital social worker, who vowed after that second degree to never return to the classroom. Yet I was making one of the biggest decisions of my life. I was going to stop working full time, give up the life I knew and embark on a journey that everyone screams is terrible.

The decision to go to law school can be one of the scariest decisions you will make, especially when it means leaving the familiarity of a career you know and jumping into the unknown. Someone told me to “do it afraid. Use that fear to push you through the process, the journey and reap the reward on the other side. As a former social worker who made the decision to leave a full time career and head to law school, I would like to share ten key tips to get you through the process and keep you pushing through the journey.

1. Find your Why: I’m certain you have heard this phrase before, but it is important to establish the basis for your decision. What is sparking you to go to law school? Is this a childhood dream deferred? Is this the marks of attempting to fill the shoes of your parents? Or is this something you feel you cannot live without doing? Whatever your reason, identify it in the beginning of the process and never let it go. Write it down, save it in your phone, notify your friends and family; you are going to need to be reminded of this as you study for the LSAT, fill out those applications, receive rejection and acceptance letters and sit down in those classes each day.

2. Evaluate your finances: One of the biggest concerns with deciding to go to law school was the reality of a lack of full time income and leaving the life I knew. When you decide to go to law school, do a serious inventory of your financial situation. Realize that you will no longer have a full-time income, so find ways to reduce your costs. Whether you cut eating out, sell things you don’t need, move in with family, or defer the decision for another year or two to pay off bills. Get your financial affairs in order, the last thing you need to worry about on top of reading and briefing cases is how you will pay your rent, or get gas.

3. LSAT LSAT LSAT: The LSAT was the one thing I dreaded the most about law school. It was like the GRE and I avoided it like the plague. Unfortunately, this test can make the difference between which of your top choices you are accepted into and whether or not you earn any scholarships. Find a good prep course, study materials or practice questions and focus. If your goal is to take it only once, you need to be committed and focused to ensure that one time is enough to land you where you want to be.

4. Map out your goals: It’s important before you start law school and at the start of each semester or year to map out your goals. Write out what you plan to achieve that term or year, whether it’s ranking in the top 10% of the class, landing Law Review, sticking to a workout regimen, joining a club or volunteering in the community. Make a plan and stick with it. At the end of the semester or year, look back and see what you accomplished, where you fell short and create a new game plan.

5. Treat law school like a full time job: I remember starting law school, not knowing any attorneys and reading online the good, the bad and the ugly. One thing I read that I implemented from day one, was to treat law school like a job. Make it a point to get to campus at the same time each day and leave at the same time. While you are there be fully invested in law school, use each moment wisely, in between classes, brief, read, review or gain clarity from professors. Be

flexible, as you may need to change your schedule based on other commitments but stick to your plan as firm as you can.

6. Find your “crew”: You may have entered law school alone, but to really succeed, you will need a good group around you. Meeting my study group, who have now turned into some of my closest friends, was the best part of law school. From study sessions, bouncing ideas off each other, having support through the lows and to celebrate the highs. Your group will be with you through one of the toughest journeys to date, they understand the process and can pick you up when life happens. I don’t know how anyone could make it through alone and even if you could, it’s so much better with friends.

7. It’s no time to be humble: Now is not the time to forget all of those skills, knowledge and experiences you had prior to law school. Find ways to connect the law to what you know or have witnessed. When it’s time for internship interviews, let that experience shine through. I remember in one of my interviews an attorney saying: “Now is not the time to be Humble, Why you?”. Use that prior career and life experiences to market yourself, give them your why, how you succeeded in school, and why you would be the ideal choice.

8. Run your race: Nothing brings you down more, stresses you out more or can have you as anxious as comparing yourself to others. Focus on yourself, your progress, growth and your personal race. Don’t worry about what others are doing, who got what grade, or who got what offer. Your race is yours alone, be in competition with yourself and what’s for you, will not pass you.

9. Celebrate Success: Whether it’s the correct rule statement on an essay, the first time you are called on and have the right answer, that A in the class you just knew you failed or when you get that internship offer; learn to celebrate your success. In law school, the lows can happen as often as the highs, you can be on top of the world in Torts and then be blindsided by Property. Learn to live in each moment, celebrate the wins no matter how small. You will appreciate the positive reinforcement later.

10. Enjoy the process: Law School is challenging, it’s stressful and it may be one of the hardest times of your life. It will force you to reevaluate what you thought you knew and who you thought you were. Law School can also have its enjoyable moments. Don’t feel guilty for getting home and watching that episode of your favorite Netflix series, enjoy that happy hour with your friends or lunch midday as a study break with your group. Take time to embrace law school and all that you gain from it, it definitely makes the difference.