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Only 5 years in as an attorney. I’m out.
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I made it out. I’ll always have it to fall back on, but I made it out. Ladies and gentleman, it’s been real.
Edit: a lot of you are asking what I did to leave and why. I don’t hate being a lawyer, I actually loved most of my legal career. I do ID now (or did) but I spent most of my time as a prosecutor and that was the best job ever. I was good at it and I liked doing it.
As to what I’m doing now: I started my own business about 8 months ago. I found a highly regulated industry that requires importing and manufacturing. My business does both, we import and then manufacture and sell the product wholesale. Being an attorney helped me tremendously navigate the difficult regulatory schemes and gave me an edge that allowed me to start this with very little money. Now that I’ve proven my concept I got funded and can take a salary without hurting the growth of the business. I took a little less than my current salary but have plenty of savings and expect to grow rapidly now that I can focus full time on the work.
Thanks for the kind wishes all of you this was a very nice farewell to the job. I still love law and am not promoting that being an attorney is bad in any way.
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Congratulations, OP! Best of luck on the new gig.
Convoy Lawyer Brendan Miller has been kicked out of the commission for the day.
Main Post: Convoy Lawyer Brendan Miller has been kicked out of the commission for the day.
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"oh my god, this shows this whole sham of an inquiry is against us!"
"no, it just shows that your people have no manners, respect for others or for the rules that all of us are content to adhere to."
Is shadowing a lawyer out of the question?
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Is this typically done or a possibility?
I’m interested in criminal law. I really don’t give a rats ass about getting my nose into someone’s case file, I really just want to be able to see what the day to day life is like for myself.
Top Comment:
Yes, it’s absolutely normal. Try to pick one who goes to court instead of sitting in an office and it will be a little more interesting.
For both new and experienced lawyers: What were your earliest and/or most careless mistakes you made when starting out, and how did you cope with them?
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For context, I'm a new lawyer with a lot of anxiety from being absolutely inexperienced. I've only been officially working as a lawyer for several days, with zero experience otherwise except for an internship where I drafted several pleadings and legal opinions. I really want to meet the standards expected of me (and my own standards) and expose myself to as much as I can learn from.
However, I'm extremely terrified of making any mistakes, big or small (I'm sure everyone is). I tend to panic quickly at the idea of potentially messing up, or when my bosses or my senior lawyers question me about legal opinions or about a client's circumstances. I beat myself up over feedback, even if it's evidently constructive, because I instinctively feel like I should've known what to do correctly the first time or that I should already know how to do the certain things I'm taking up even if I've never done them before.
I've convinced myself that I need this trial by fire to become a great lawyer, but I'm worried I'll burn out too soon if I keep pressuring myself about making (and avoiding) mistakes and trying to get everything right immediately.
So my question for lawyers in the same boat, or with a few or many years of experience behind them, what were some of your earliest and/or most careless mistakes, and how did you cope with making them or trying to prevent making mistakes at all? Do you still find yourself making mistakes and how do you deal with that?
Top Comment: I have been in the profession for almost 10 years. Started my career in a law firm on general rotation (meaning i get assigned all kinds of cases/practice eg litigation, corp, special projects, IP, labor). My biggest mistakes: 1. In the very first pleading that I signed and filed, I forgot to attach the annexes mentioned in the pleading. We had to file another pleading apologizing to the court with the forgotten annexes); 2. I presented a witness in the CTA during which said witness identified several documentary exhibits. However, i did not move for the marking of the said exhibits. We had to ask the court for an additional setting to have those exhibits marked; 3. I asked my secretary to print the final versions of a contract to be signed by the parties. It turned out that my secretary’s version of Word was an older one so the formatting changed and spaces between some of the words got deleted. Client noticed these before signing so we had to reprint several pages which delayed payment for the contract; 4. I was supposed to deliver a lecture on philippine competition law for a client but my uber got stuck in traffic on the way to the venue so the partner, who was already in the venue, covered for me. Lessons: in all of these, i found it useful to always come clean with your mistakes to your superior IMMEDIATELY and apologize, because most of the time, specially in litigation, there is a remedy to your mistakes. Also, in my experience, as long as you are honest about your mistakes, partners/superiors will be understanding. You will make mistakes but, as a young practitioner, you need to make those mistakes to learn and grow in our profession.
What's the difference between lawyer and attorney?
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I've heard when I was a 3L that there's a difference though I always thought it was the same thing. I'm a lawyer now but I'm seeing all these new grad posts like "officially a lawyer"
So I asked one girl like, you graduated law school but... you're not a lawyer tho what are you talking about? (She's a good friend I wasn't being an unsolicited dick about it)
She said a lawyer has graduated but hasn't taken the bar... and an attorney has passed the bar.
I googled it and I actually found a website that said the same thing. Which was very surprising.
Now I'm just utterly confused. Is there any basis for this?
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Practical dos & don'ts for newbie lawyers
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Still running on adrenaline after passing today. I've read through almost all threads here for tips on new lawyers but are there any small/practical things we should keep in mind?
- How soon should I apply for notarial commission and IBP registration after taking the oath? I'll be working on corporate but plan on taking baby steps into solo practice eventually.
- Are virtual law offices a thing? Since I'm just starting out I want keep overhead costs at a minimum. I'm thinking consultations can be scheduled naman, especially when I'm just taking a few cases at the beginning?
- What every day items should I invest in? Clothes, bags and shoes are a given and vary depending on work, but are there other office/personal necessities to consider?
- Should I learn how to drive? Lmao. Companies/firms have messengers and drivers to assist for filing, etc. but I'm thinking commuting might not be viable if I have to do my own legwork.
Top Comment: How soon should I apply for notarial commission and IBP registration after taking the oath? I'll be working on corporate but plan on taking baby steps into solo practice eventually. you can apply for notarial commission after getting your roll number, payment of PTR in your LGU, and payment of IBP fees. Depending on the jurisdiction, they vary a bit as to requirements. Makati requires an NBI clearance, and I think Muntinlupa doesn't. I suggest to apply for notarial commission some time in Q1 2025 so that your PTR and IBP dues are paid already Are virtual law offices a thing? Since I'm just starting out I want keep overhead costs at a minimum. I'm thinking consultations can be scheduled naman, especially when I'm just taking a few cases at the beginning? i think a virtual office can be a doable for now. For BIR purposes, you can register yourself as a mixed income earner. You can place your residence as your principal place of business for the invoices. What every day items should I invest in? Clothes, bags and shoes are a given and vary depending on work, but are there other office/personal necessities to consider? clothes and shoes. Don't buy anything too flashy, you don't want to standout in court too much. Invest in a good laptop as well. Buy eyedrops too, you'll be doing a lot of reading. Take care of your eyes. Now is the time to invest in a nice practical bag as well. Should I learn how to drive? Lmao. Companies/firms have messengers and drivers to assist for filing, etc. but I'm thinking commuting might not be viable if I have to do my own legwork. most lawyers i know usually just take grab or they have a company/firm driver. Most courts in metro manila have bad parking. Not feasible to bring car most of the time. Additional notes: Don't try to "dress up" too much in court, you stick out too much. In my experience, judges and other counsel can really tell that you're a new bar passer. The simpler you dress, the better. Let your pleadings and your work do the talking. Dress up for client meetings instead. Personal preference - don't put any kind of markings on your car (i.e. IBP stickers) Lawyers already get a bad rep due to some bad apples. We don't need that extra privelege or special treatment. Our primary job description is to help people, no need for that special treatment crap. This also goes the same for your online presence. I see a few people who change add "Atty." to their profile names. A bit cringey for me as a fellow lawyer and practitioner 3. Under-promise, over-deliver. 4. Be kind. Congrats, Panyero/Panyera!
New attorney, seriously overwhelmed
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I feel silly posting this, I’ve been told by the other attorneys that feeling this way is normal, but I am seriously overwhelmed and feel like I am just... sucking?
For context I interned my last year of law school fully expecting to do transactional work but switched gears and took a job at a firm that was bigger so I could learn a couple different practice areas before settling into a specific one. My internship experiences in law school weren’t really as immersive as I had hoped they’d be so this felt like a great opportunity.
I do feel like I am learning a lot but now, as a new lawyer (3 1/2 months in) I am seriously struggling with maintaining my workload. I have guidance and am grateful to work somewhere with other attorneys who have been very kind but I am being trusted to do a lot on my own that I’ve never done before and it’s making me feel exhausted and anxious. I did not feel this way about law school or even the bar exam, despite how intense those things can be so I’m wondering how to cope with this.
Is this relatable? Does anyone have any advice as to managing learning and an increasing workload or is this just a struggle period everyone has to go through?
Top Comment: Old attorney. Seriously overwhelmed. It’s the nature of the business. Ignore it and eat your elephant. Just take one small bite at a time and keep moving forward.