This week in the Law School Insider we are bringing you Lori Buiteweg, one of the principal shareholders within the Nichols, Sacks, Slank, Sendelbach & Buiteweg, P.C. firm. Lori Buiteweg is the past president of the State Bar of Michigan and has a long career of advocating for ethical standards and rights for her clients. We are excited to have her on the show today.
Law is the great equilizer and it is there to protect everyone and for Lori Buiteweg this was something that drew her to the law. It was especially the case as she saw bullying happening in school in high school. She felt that she wanted to do somethign and she wanted to help others. She wanted to be a crusader to help the downtrodden.
In her undergraduate experience she worked hard to be abel to get into law school. When she got into law school, this was new and she decided to work while in law school during the day and getting experience that related directly to what she wanted to do. As an evening student she had to find a balance all of this and completed the 5 year program in 4 years.
In law school working through law school was something that really allowed her to make the connection to her first professional career.
In being an advocate and a counselor in your own career, Lori Buiteweg mentioned that experienced lawyers are ones that can counsel their clients well. At her current firm she would sit in on client interviews with other senior consulatations that they would have. She was very surprised at the intimate conversations that you would have in these conversations. Thus, there was a learning curve that you go throughand yuou get better as you go along. Lori Buiteweg mentioned that the spiritual side of her life has allowed her to be able to become more in tune with the counseling that she needed to be able to do in her career. On top of this yoga has allowed her to center herself to be a better counselor with others.
As a past State Bar President of Michigan she learned some valuable things that could help you including:
- a big need for lawyers in rural areas within the state.
- opening up your own practice is challenging if you do not have an existing mentor.
- get as much experiential learning as possible in law school.
- attorneys throughout the state are out there trying to help others which provided a common thread.
- join your local bar association and speciality bar associations to create, build and expand your network.
- get out there and be seen as often as you can!
Don't worry about yourself, but try to think about what is the right thing ti do. Stay humble and work hard and when someone gives you a "no" make sure to set that aside and say "yes" as much as you can to cases that are challenging and opportunities that will encourage you too.
Website - https://nsssb.com/our-attorneys/lori-a-buiteweg/
Twitter - @LoriBuiteweg
Email - buiteweg@nsssb.com
Did you like this interview? Do you have a question for Lori Buiteweg? Leave a comment below to let me know!
Are you a practicing lawyer? A law student? Would you like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the Law School Insider or do you have a topic you would like to hear about? Send me an email at lawschoolinsider@cooley.edu
