I think I can, I think I can...

Sarah's Post

Week Four

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I’m finally comfortable coming into the office every day, and working a full work week. And while business is not exactly booming, I do have a few client leads that I’m working on turning into paying clients.

One issue I’ve run into is clients expecting that you know the answers to their questions immediately. They seem to think it’s strange that you don’t know the answers to questions like how long a process will take, how much money they are likely going to have to spend, and whether their claim is a good one to even bring into court or not.

As a new lawyer, I find myself scrambling to do preliminary research on very basic questions before talking to clients, which is time consuming and generally doesn’t yield specific enough answers to clients’ questions anyways. So I look forward to the time when I at least feel comfortable answering basic questions about procedure without having to dig the information out of the library, or ask another lawyer what I know is a really stupid question.

Luckily, experienced lawyers seem to like being asked stupid questions. I think it makes people feel good that you think they know their area of law well enough to ask them questions. Most everyone I’ve talked to has been more than willing to talk to me about anything under the sun, law related or not, and share encouragement as well as knowledge. My advice would be to have several people you can ask questions of, however, because eventually anyone will get tired of you no matter what a nice, cute, new lawyer you are.

So new lawyers, ask those questions! Experienced attorneys want you to be able to competently represent clients, because we all represent the same profession. And what lawyer doesn’t like to talk?   

Rita is opening this week, so send happy, successful thoughts her way!