Why and how to do a year-end SELF review
Did you work on what matters, anon?
(my kind of gal - beautiful in a classical sense. Probably spends too much time on TikTok but I can fix her…)
The only review that matters is your review of yourself. I have been doing self-reviews for the past five-ish years.
I wish I had done them for the past thirty.
Upon reflection and thought will you get where you want to go. That and actually doing activities to move the needle.
This week has been rough. I got rocked by a nasty flu. I’m grateful because when everything is taken away can you see what is most important. It should not take a health issue to remind me what really matters. However, as the famous quote by…Confucius (?) says:
“A healthy person has 1,000 wishes. A sick person has one.”
TL: DL - you need to work on what matters most and if you do not check/occasionally get an awful sickness, you will be a perpetual cog in the system.
Why do a self review?
Either:
A) your office does one and that is geared towards them, not you; OR
B) You are homeless on a beach and need to keep it that way
Corporate/Employer Reviews
Corporate reviews are mostly pointless. They do, however, give you a look at:
FIRST - how lame is your company? Back in my day, we used to use the word gay for lame. How gay is my employer? Ironically there’s no point in asking how gay an employer is , because most large companies are actively trying to be as gay as possible. Here are photos from the ever expansive google search known as Goldman Sachs Pride Flag:
“We are so diverse, please ignore we backstabbed our own customers and helped tank the economy in 08-09!”
This is my favorite, from the same article on Goldman’s website:
The ol’ identity board. A group activity as uncomfortable as time.
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE GIVING YOU A REVIEW.
Therefore, I used reviews a few ways:
How do I get paid more? They are telling me directly.
Do I want that carrot? I left my last career once I realized I was headed for a life of identity boards.
How does my company work? Many of those reading will start their own companies. Even if a one person shop, you’ll eventually need an assistant or two. Pay attention to how the company is structured. You’ll need to incentivize your employees too. Do you want to give them equity in something? Pay using NFTs? Have them live in a ten person rotating orgy in the Bahamas?
My current role has informal reviews. Attorneys get feedback from other attorneys, judges, etc. You can be moved to a different court room if you are effing up, I had that in my younger days. Hard yet important lesson learned.
How to do self-reviews
This will be more of a what I do and think works section. Take what you like, disregard the rest.
I am not homeless on a beach, but something like that is the goal. How do you get to homeless on a beach? For me, it’s a combination:
opening my own law firm in 2-3 years
monetizing BowTiedKong in an ethical and fun way (will exclude for the below analysis).
I need systems for both. I used to only have goals, now I have systems to get me to my goals.
2022 systems/goals for my LEGAL career with going solo a 2-3 year plan
building relationships with current defense attorneys.
figuring out which criminal areas to start, getting into PI
Expanding my motion practice. Am I familiar enough with motions in limine for both prosecution and defense?
Having a jury trial every quarter (at my level they can be tough to get outside of murders).
Did I create and work systems enough for the above in 2022?
I’d give myself a C.
What did I do well and not do well?
I have built a few solid relationships on the defense side, and actively plan with two defense attorneys on what worked for them and what did not when they went solo. Pat on the back. My system was randomly pinging 2-3 people to talk. It worked ok.
I have done almost no work in what areas I will be focusing on. This is a fail. I have them in my head, but have not written anything down. Am I sure I want to still focus on those areas? Part of this is the 2-3 year horizon. I still have military stuff going on, and I may end up moving to a new state (aka taking part or a full bar again WOOF). I probably need to move it up to six months and let the chips fall as they may. I did not have a system, hence WOMP WOMP.
Expanding my motion practice: this is another one where I have filed a few quality motions, but have left meat on the bone. There are a few cases that I know are going to trial. Instead of waiting, I need to file. Being early is better than being late in law, and who knows what will happen in 2023. The “system” was me realizing mid-year I needed to do more, then doing a couple more.
Jury trial every quarter: I did hit this goal by not only figuring out which of my cases will be going, but also pinging other attorneys in my office for first/second chair opportunities. Sometimes a case is headed to trial and the attorney does not want to deal with it. Annoying lawyer, bad witnesses, a vacation right before/after it. It’s a good practice, literally and figuratively, to ping people offering to take work of their hands. This system was solid.
Do these same systems and goals make sense for 2023?
Yes and no, or as lawyers like to say, “it depends.”
If I am moving in 12-24 months, which looks more likely, what makes more sense:
Building relationships in my current jurisdiction, or prepping for that state’s bar?
Focusing on multiple jury trials, or prepping for that state’s bar?
The answer is in the middle.
I can and should learn from defense attorneys how they built their business. That is my goal regardless of where I live. Maybe I keep this, but dial down the jury trials to only mine. Who knows, I may end up having more trials and needing someone else to take mine. Again, 2023, like I have a clue.
Ultimately the move is most important, because I have to be able to practice law in that state.
Therefore, I need a system and goals in place for taking that state’s bar.
In 2023, I will:
Keep my current defense attorney relationships;
let jury trials fall as they may;
continue expanding my motion practice;
have my largest focus on passing the new state’s bar
How will I do the above? I’ve blown through more words than I planned and thank you if you’ve read this far. My systems for the above need time to flush out, but they’ll be something along the lines of:
ping those defense attorneys I already talk to when we have a case upcoming to get lunch or talk after court;
use office time primarily for motion writing;
reach out to the other state’s bar examiner group to get the ball rolling, as well as let my friends in that state know I am coming there and do they know any lawyers.
I try to keep my systems flexible and check on them when I feel something is off.
Hopefully this helps you to have a productive and fulfilling 2023! Leave a comment or ping me on twitter if you want to discuss your particular situation.
Namaste,
KONG