Law is
competitive, and it can be difficult for young attorneys to stand out at their
firms. However, junior associates can give themselves an edge by taking an
active interest in their practice and their firm’s business. Here are some
specific ways junior attorneys can separate themselves from the pack.
Know Your Practice Area
This goes
without saying, but great junior attorneys don’t just clock in and clock out,
they have a healthy intellectual curiosity about what is going on in their
practice area. Great junior attorneys make themselves aware of the latest
developments in their field. For example, great junior patent attorneys will
stay current on recent
federal circuit decisions and regularly checking popular patent sites, like
Patently-O. These attorneys realize that
understanding their practice landscape gives them context for the cases they
are working on, and makes them more knowledgeable, competent attorneys.
Know Your Firm’s Business
While seemingly
obvious, it is worth saying that great junior attorneys know what’s going on in
their own backyard. They are aware of the major cases being handled by their
firm, the status of those cases, they subject matter they deal with, and they
key issues they cover. They are also on the look-out for potentially new cases.
For example, if you are a copyright associate, and your firm has had Google for
a client, it would be wise to setup
alerts on their new copyright litigation. Great junior attorneys recognize
that to move up in the firm, they have to take an ownership interest in not
only in their own work, but also in the work of the firm as a whole.
Know Your Colleagues’ Business
Associates often
work on teams. Good junior attorneys may think doing a competent job on their
piece of a project is enough to rise to the top. Great junior attorneys
recognize that they need to be knowledgeable about their colleagues’ work, in
addition to their own. They skim
briefs written and submitted by other attorneys at their firm and take an interest
in the cases their peers are working on. This allows the junior attorney to quickly
pick up cases where others leave off, and to become a resource of firm
information that others look to.
Know Your Competition
Great junior
attorneys also understand the competition as well as they understand their own
firms. They are knowledgeable about who the major firms are that compete with their
business, and the big cases those firms are handling. Great junior attorneys
understand that one day they may end up sitting across the table or the isle
from their competition, whether in negotiation or in court, and detailed
knowledge about these firms goes into good preparation. Additionally, great
junior attorneys understand that being aware of the competition’s strengths and
weaknesses can help their firm differentiate itself in the quest for acquiring
clients.
Docket Alarm is a
useful piece of tech for junior associates to stay on top of cases in their
field and their firm, and to stay competitive with other firms. Docket Alarm
can find all the cases your firm is working on, setup alerts for those
cases as needed, and track newly filed cases as they come in. Docket Alarm can
help the good associates become great ones.
Docket Alarm is a comprehensive legal
research and analytics platform helping attorneys enhance their practice. Sign
up today at www.docketalarm.com
to start receiving litigation updates in your inbox.
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Docket Alarm is an advanced search and litigation tracking service for the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB), the International Trade Commission (ITC), Bankruptcy Courts, and Federal Courts across the United States. Docket Alarm searches and tracks millions of dockets and documents for thousands of users.
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