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Do you really have to drive yourself into the ground the first few years of practice to make it?

Working 50-plus hours per week consistently is relatively unusual. Sometimes you will likely have to burn off a little midnight oil. There will be times when you simply can't get the business done by working a typical 9-to-5 work day, and no responsible professional is going to drop the ball in the middle of a due diligence inspection to get a multibillion-dollar bargain or walk from this office the weekend before a major trial begins.

Was there anything you wanted you'd have done otherwise in law school that you did not understand until you began to practice?

I wish I had dealt with my discomfort over talking to folks about, and asking them for, money. When I opened my practice to speak to customers about cash and ask them write me a large check, it was very uncomfortable. I'd read Jay Foonberg's book, How to Start and Build a Law Practice, which had excellent suggestions. However, I wish I had worked with a cash coach (or perhaps done role playing with friends) to get over my discomfort of saying, "The retainer inside this matter is X, and I cannot start work without it." Practice saying this till it seems like second nature if you do nothing else.

What do you like most about your project? Least?

As with most immigration companies, we bill almost every case on a flat-fee basis rather than on a hourly one. And that has freed us up from the shackles of the billable hour. We are judged by efficiency since they are informed and results and customers tend not to argue about their bills.

Can you see a bias against individuals who attend law school later in life?

In summary, yes, later-in-life students can sometimes feel a bit out of place with the younger audience. However they have a distinct advantage that most of the pupils that are straight-through don't--a little more life in the rear-view mirror. That expertise will assist from day one in law school. Professors will frequently rely on and seek out those pupils to draw on that knowledge along with the based work ethic of the student. As soon as a résumé is reviewed by a law company from the pupil that is later-in-life, it's going to have instant confidence that the graduate is prepared beyond the scholarly world and ready to add immediate value to its clients and the firm. So go forth and conquer, regardless of what time in life you decided to make your way into this profession.

Did any classes prove particularly useful as you started practicing?

In my own experience now as a hiring attorney, the biggest failing I have observed with pupils and new attorneys whom I've interviewed or hired is the inability to examine each side of an issue and outline the findings in a coherent memo or even persuasive short. Mastery of writing abilities and analysis in law school are critical--both because those tools make you an advantage to a law firm and also because they're virtually impossible to spend on some time and enhance in training.