The Most Important Thing To Remember As A Lawyer!

Today in the Law School Insider we explore the journey that Nicole Hughes, an Associate Attorney with Alane and Chartier, LLP.

Nicole Hughes spent some time with me talking to me about the most important thing to remember as a Lawyer as well as about her own journey to discover this point.

Nicole Hughes mentioned that she was surprised upon starting law school as she stated that it was "completely like none other" and she found that she had to "invest herself 100% into the process" for her to find the success that her self-proclaimed type A personality required.

You might be asking how she did this?

Nicole Hughes mentioned that there were a few things that were important as she made the transition into law school including:

1. Completely buckling down with the material, reading everything and not getting behind in class.
2. Finding a group of friends that become family.
3. Developing coping mechanisms to have a break from the law every once in a while.

These are important points for all of you to remember as you enter and are working your way through law school. 

When Nicole Hughes talks about coping mechanisms, she is talking to you about the stress that you will encounter in law school. Though this can be overwhelming at times, Nicole found that by maintaining a strict schedule for herself throughout law school she was able to accomplish much more including:

1. Not falling behind in classes.
2. She was able to focus on herself after she knew that other work was completed and that she knew she was on-task.
3. It brought her mentally/physically/ and socially back to a neutral position and provides clarity to what is important.
4. Allowed her to take a deep breath and stay healthy in all facets of her life.

Nicole Hughes was also an international student while in law school. Originally from Canada, she also had to deal with the stress of moving and culturally melding into a new country. She gave the following advice for other international students considering law school:

1. Ask Questions - start from the beginning and know that no questions are bad questions.
2. Look at the resources available at your law school.
3. Reach out to existing international students at your law school to ask them questions such as:
   1. How do you register a car?
   2. How do you get health insurance?
4. Know that even after you have been in the country where your law school is for years you may still run into cultural differences that you may have to overcome.

As Nicole Hughes looks back on law school as well as her current career she stated that while it is important to do well in law school and to get involved, it is also very important to build a positive reputation for yourself starting in law school. You want to start to have people see you in a positive way and respectable manner at all times and this will pay large dividends especially as you get into your professional career.

Also in considering success now, Nicole Hughes' view of what this means today is different than what it was in law school. Today it is "completely client-based and client-driven." Nicole Hughes mentioned that she holds a high burden on her shoulders and wants her clients to be able to 100% depend and trust that she is there to work with her and the other side and to not hurt either side. At the end of the day Nicole Hughes takes the most pride now in seeing her clients that have to her from a very traumatic experience and leave her at peace with the outcome. 

Also in thinking back at law school itself, Nicole Hughes said that if she could do anything differently she would do two things:

1. Study Abroad - and we just talked to a current law student about her own experience studying abroad in last week's Law School Insider.
2. Focus on Bar Preparation earlier. Nicole mentioned that she would not wait until the law school says that you should work on this, but start from Day 1 preparing yourself to be successful on the first try. 

Nicole Hughes made a good point at the end of her interview that all current and future Lawyers should consider which is that "A Lawyers' function is to help others." She clarified this when she said that a "massive paycheck should not be the only reason you want to do this" because you have to work very hard and your career and clients always come first in this profession. In the end it should be a goal for you to remember that as a lawyer you affect the lives of the people/clients that you are representing no matter what area of law that you are within.

As Nicole Hughes stated "Use your life to serve others - this should be your #1 consideration as a lawyer."

Did you like this interview? 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? Send me an email at lawschoolinsider@cooley.edu