3 Tips For Having A Career As A Politically Engaged Lawyer
Lawyers can make a difference as well as a living—but it calls for a combination of patience, planning, and courage.
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Can a lawyer work in Biglaw or for a major corporation while also getting involved in hot-button social and political issues? In today’s polarized world, where law firms and corporate legal departments focus on protecting their reputations and not rocking the boat, it’s challenging—but not impossible.
Lawyers can make a difference as well as a living, but it calls for a combination of patience, planning, and courage. This was my main takeaway last week from a panel at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention, “On Building a Courageous and Effective Career.”
The excellent moderator, Judge Gregory Katsas (D.C. Cir.), set the stage by describing his own experience as a self-described “committed conservative lawyer” who graduated law school in the 1980s. First, “the day-to-day, paid work of law firms was often aligned, and rarely if ever affirmatively inconsistent, with my general worldview.” Second, “firms were pretty laissez-faire” in terms of allowing both left- and right-leaning lawyers to pursue their desired pro bono projects. Third, “the revolving door, for those of us who wanted to do government service, worked for Republicans as well as Democrats.”
Times have definitely changed. After Judge Katsas’s opening remarks, the four speakers explored the challenges of being a conservative lawyer in environments that can be hostile to right-of-center views, including many large law firms, certain corporations, and legal academia. But it occurred to me that much of their advice would also benefit lawyers with other views unpopular in Biglaw, such as strong pro-Palestine or anti-Israel opinions (which have caused some law firms to rescind job offers or even fire associates).
1. Be patient.
Idealistic early-career lawyers across the political spectrum often want to start making a difference as soon as they graduate from law school. But if you’re in that category, you might have a greater long-term impact if you start off focusing less on activism and more on investing in your own development.
“Bide your time,” said Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general who has argued consequential cases like Trump v. Anderson, the effort to disqualify Donald Trump from the presidency. “There’s a time to be courageous, and there’s also a time not to be. Maybe this is the time to lay groundwork for your future actions.”
For example, maybe you should spend the first few years of your career at a large law firm. You can pay off your law school loans, acquire valuable skills and experience, and make useful connections—which can help you land your dream job of, say, litigating free-speech cases for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
Or perhaps your ultimate career goal is to start your own law firm, so you can have the freedom to take on cases and causes that matter to you. I generally advise people to gain some experience by working for someone else first—as does Libby Locke, who was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis before leaving to launch Clare Locke, today one of the nation’s leading plaintiff-side defamation law firms.
“I’m not advising people in their first year out of law school to go and hang your shingle,” she said. “You’ve got to have some professional competence, skills, and training before you do that.”
At the same time, if you went to law school because you wanted to change the world, don’t lose sight of that—which can be easy to do when you’re enjoying a Biglaw paycheck.
“Always try to keep the long game in mind,” Mitchell said. “Where am I ultimately going? How does this particular job that I’m holding right now fit into that plan?”
This advice applies to another subject I’m often asked about: non-traditional careers for lawyers, such as my own work as a legal journalist. I tell aspiring legal journalists that it can be beneficial to practice before going into writing—and I have no regrets about my own stints as a Biglaw associate and federal prosecutor, which help me analyze legal issues more intelligently and with greater credibility.
2. Seek out mentors.
According to Annie Donaldson Talley, a former deputy White House counsel in the first Trump administration, one thing shared in common by many lawyers who had positive experiences in Biglaw and then successfully transitioned into something else is that they found mentors.
“Seek them out,” she said. “Try to work for them or intern for them. Especially in government and politics, a lot of your career is bouncing back and forth between people you respect and want to work for.”
Mentors can be found in surprising places, so cast a wide net. Mentors aren’t always colleagues in your current job; they might be fellow alumni of your law school, lawyers you know through a professional organization, or even panelists you meet at a conference.
I’d add that once you find a great mentor, invest in and maintain that relationship. If you ask a mentor for advice, update them after you make your ultimate decision. Let them know when you switch jobs. Stay in touch—not only because it might help you professionally, but because human connections make the practice of law more enjoyable and fulfilling.
3. Look beyond Biglaw.
“If you go to the Harvards and Yales and Stanfords of the world, there’s a treadmill set up from the second you walk through the door,” said Tennessee attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti, himself a graduate of Harvard Law. And that treadmill sends students into Biglaw.
But there are other options. Even though he graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, another elite institution that sends many students to major firms, Mitchell proudly declared, “I have never worked in Biglaw—and I never will.”
It can be difficult to turn down a starting salary of $225,000, especially if you’re saddled with educational debt. But Mitchell emphasized that when choosing between jobs, you need to consider other factors—such as the “psychic income” that flows from meaningful work.
I couldn’t agree more. As a journalist, I don’t earn as much as many of my law school classmates who are still working as lawyers. But I love what I do, and I appreciate the work-life balance and flexibility of being my own boss (which is why I have no plans to return to practicing law).
As for alternatives to Biglaw, Mitchell highlighted public-interest organizations. Skrmetti cited government opportunities, both federal and state—and mentioned that his office, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, is currently hiring.
Locke touted smaller firms like her own, describing today as “a golden age for boutique law firms.” At Clare Locke, she’s been able to take cases that she cares about, for controversial clients—such as former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which she doubts she could have handled back at Kirkland.
“Don’t worry about the prestige, the money, or the title you think you may be giving up,” Locke said. “The hard work will bring all of those things in time—and it will be so much more rewarding when you do it on your own terms.”
A version of this article originally appeared on Bloomberg Law, part of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc. (800-372-1033), and is reproduced here with permission.
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