Strategically Saying Yes
As a young lawyer in 2010, I struggled to find my footing in my new career. I did not have any job prospects or traction within my legal community because it was the end of the Great Recession and legal jobs were scarce. Though I had a law degree and a bar license, I felt dejected and lost because I had a child to support and no job prospects. At this time, I didn’t know the importance of our legal community and how to establish myself to grow my career. I didn’t know where or how to start my lawyer journey.
In my first year as a lawyer, I attended a Santa Clara Alumni night at a San Jose Giants baseball game. I was thrilled to see former classmates and my professors. This space felt safe and familiar. At the event many of my fellow classmates were also struggling with establishing our careers because it was 2010 and our economy was recovering. I soon found myself in a conversation with one of my professor’s wives who was a respected civil rights attorney. As our children played, she sincerely asked me how I was doing. In that moment, I felt safe and I explained my struggles and fears and how I was applying for work but “not getting anywhere.” She then told me “go to your local bar association and just say ‘yes’ to any and all opportunities.” She explained to me that saying yes to seemingly random volunteer opportunities would help me establish myself within my legal community and eventually help me find my legal career. She was one of the first lawyers to give me permission to be a lawyer with less than perfect grades and claim my space in our legal community.
Learning to Say Yes
After this chance meeting, I left feeling confident in my ability to offer something to my legal community. I still did not feel like the smartest person in the room, but I had something to offer, my time and effort. I then began my journey of saying “yes” to just about any opportunity that I could find. I volunteered when Judge Zuniga and Judge Becton hosted the “Color of Justice” where they invited high school students from Richmond and Antioch for a career day. I, the less-than-perfect student, found myself sitting at a table with Contra Costa judges helping in all of the planning of that event. Just months earlier, I would have never dreamed of such an incredible opportunity. All because I asked how can I help, when someone offered me the opportunity and I said “yes.”
Soon I found myself joining various committees and sections of the Contra Costa County Bar Association. I also landed my first job with Fishkin & Slatter. My mentors, Jerry and Lindsay, began creating opportunities for me to speak or write articles. They were always clear with me that participation was optional, but I again said “yes.”
My commitment to saying “yes” to my legal community helped grow my practice, gave me opportunities to present on legal ethics, and took time away from the grind of being a single parent. I also started to develop professional and personal friendships all from my willingness to say “yes.”
Learning to Say “Yes” Strategically
After fifteen years of saying “yes” to many opportunities to present CLEs, write articles, offer pro bono representation, or even take on new responsibilities in my role within my firm, I am now finally feeling a bit spread too thin. I am no longer the hungry newly-minted lawyer hoping to earn a living and feed my child. I am now a lawyer in the middle of my career, overcommitted and an empty-nester seeking new ways to fill my cup that does not revolve around the career that I so dearly love.
I am now learning to strategically say “no.” Frankly, like many lawyers, I am afraid to start to say no because I do not want future opportunities to dry up. Though my role as an in-house lawyer does not require me to develop a book of business, I do fear that learning to strategically say no will negatively impact my career that I worked so hard to establish. With that said, I also recognize that my priorities have changed, and I want to have a little more time to spend on exploring my life outside of my career. I also am finding myself working longer hours within my firm because I service not only our west coast but also east coast lawyers.
So now I am embarking on my new journey to learn to strategically say yes, a more positive spin on “no.” I have created two buckets. The first bucket is saying yes when I will do all the work myself. The second bucket is when I will decline but offer to find someone who can step into the opportunity. When declining an opportunity, as a more established attorney, we should encourage younger lawyers to step into the spotlight.
Ways to Strategically Say “Yes”
• Decline the opportunity, but offer to find a younger lawyer to take your place. Then offer to guide the younger attorney through the opportunity. Example: sharing prior CLE materials for a younger attorney to build from.
• Partner with a younger attorney and assist them in the opportunity. Example: accepting a new client, working together to meet the client’s needs, assigning a younger attorney special projects, and allowing the younger attorney to take the lead in client meetings.
• Decline a leadership role, but find another capable lawyer to sit in your place. Example: When possible, encourage diverse lawyers to take leadership roles unrelated to issues involving diversity.
• Rather than saying no to a new project or client matter, say “yes” with conditions based on your existing commitments. Example: “Yes, I can do it, but my earliest availability is insert date?” This allows you to control your time, but also is a gauge to determine if the deadline is a real emergency or created by the client or supervising lawyer.
• For nonclient opportunities, such as CLE presentations or volunteer work, plan your commitments at the beginning of the year. These goals can be aspirational.
Saying yes to opportunities has shaped my career beyond my expectations. I look forward to passing future opportunities to newer attorneys and focusing on my other passions.