In TEXAS LAWYER, Jason Braun has a long-winded advice column for newbie JDs at law firms. His number-one ought - and the tone is total ought - is to think like a partner. That was probably never shrewd, at least not to protect one's earning potential and have a shot at upward mobility. Great careers are played out with a mindset focused on how you, with your unique bag of strengths, weaknesses, and talents, can do what it takes to excel, efficiently. Even in law, less can be more.
That goes back to basic game theory [useful read is "Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction" by Ken Binmore.] Winners analyze the traditional rules. Then they figure out, sometimes by trial and error, what rules can't be broken, which can be bypassed discreetly, and which should should be broken flamboyantly. When Rupert Murdoch was at Oxford, game theory was embedded in the intellectual life. That insight into how the system can be gamed might have given that media tycoon a faster start than others who were Organization Men and Professional Women.
In this black-swan marketplace, the only way not to perish is to custom-make career strategies and tactics. There's no one formula. Sure, insight is to be had from observing what the stars at the firm and in the profession do. But that's them. You are you.
There's less risk involved in not sticking to the conventional MO at the firm. After all, it's unlikely you will last long there. It's even more unlikely you will become partner. What is likely if you are a shrewd player is that you will learn about practicing law and career strategy/tactics to make it just about anywhere in law. That could range from a solo practice to a top government position.
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