What’s Your Brand as a Young Lawyer?
 
From my experience working in three different law firms and running my own firm over the past fifteen years, I have observed that many young lawyers don’t take their personal branding seriously. Some don’t understand the concept and wrongly assume it is a game of vanity or a popularity contest.
 
A National Research Study conducted by Brand Builders Group revealed that personal branding is so important to rising employees that 70% of older millennials think companies should teach all employees how to build their personal brand!
 
As young lawyers, you need to be aware that you are already building your personal brand through your conduct, email drafting, dressing, work quality, conferences attended, articles written, social profile, online conduct, and many other activities too numerous to mention. Jeff Bezos explained this point better when he said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.”
 
The following are some of the brands of young lawyers I have observed within the past fifteen years:
 
1.    The Rainmaker.
2.    The early birds. They usually resume at the office early, get to court early and join their meetings early. Their work ethic is strong, and their attention to detail is spot on.
3.    The scholar. They usually go the extra mile to churn out high-quality work at all times. The Managing Partner usually prefers to assign them the most complex tasks in the firm.
4.    The social butterfly. They are usually well-groomed and know how to navigate any social setting. The Managing Partner usually takes them along for important meetings, pitches and social events.
5.    The face of the firm. They get along well with people and use their extensive network to promote the firm and get valuable contacts for its benefit.
6.    The average performer. They are usually more concerned about meeting basic expectations and only exceed expectations occasionally. They often require constant handholding to exceed expectations.
7.    The deadweight/complainer. This category of young lawyers mostly thrives in a large organization where they can easily ‘hide’. In most cases, the organization only keeps them on its payroll because they are responsible for a task they haven’t found the perfect fit for. They are always disgruntled and are perpetually looking for a better opportunity.
8.    The Private Practice (PP) Master. This category of young lawyers usually dedicates more of their time to their side hustles than to the job they are paid to do.
9.    The problem solver. They are usually service-oriented and excellent team players. They focus more on achieving the team’s objective than promoting themselves as the organization’s superstar.
 
There are more categories, but I have decided to stop here due to space and time constraints.
 
My dear young lawyers, it is important for you to constantly audit your brands and make the necessary adjustments, as it is never too late to change or improve.