Monday Mentors with Austin Litigator Michael Kabat
Today's guest is Michael Kabat, partner and litigator at McGinnis Lochridge in Austin. Michael talks about IP cases moving to Waco, being a lawyer of your word, and what they look for in lateral hires.
His firm/practice
- Full service regional firm with Austin roots (now Houston and Decatur offices); oldest law firm in Austin
- Lots of oil/gas and public utility clients, but
- His practice is a broad litigation practice, though the two he focuses on are business litigation and intellectual property litigation
- As a Waco native, he is particularly interested in Judge Alan Albright's federal court which has a heavy IP case load
- Waco could become the new East Texas/Marshall/Rocket Docket
- Several firms around the state opening up new/satellite offices in Waco
COVID-19 update (as of 12/3/20)
- Began operating remote in March, and has stayed that way since then.
- Was an undertaking to get it implemented, but has worked well
- Moved group communication to Microsoft Teams
- Pretty simple/easy to use
- Good chat function and project based threads
- Screen sharing is okay
- Good video functionality similar to Zoom
- Some folks in the Houston office have returned to the office and people will occasionally pop into the Austin office
- Some hearings/depos it has been better to get the tech/office support from being in the office
- They were in the process of renovating a new space to move into, and COVID has given them pause to rethink the standard ways of commuting/officing
- Austin continues to boom with real estate/construction/office projects
Advice for lawyers in practice
- Your word is your bond; learn who does/doesn't abide by the same
- Become someone others can trust
- If it's a difficult call, what impact will there be on the client? Matters of scheduling/procedure are things that generally don't negatively impact the client and the lawyer can make the call. If it's more of a strategy decision then you really need to listen to the client.
- Treat your partners as your client; don't lose sight that you are in a client service business with a fiduciary obligation
- By impressing the partners, you will get more responsibility and opportunity
Advice for lawyers seeking a job / can you answer these questions?
- What has your experience been thus far?
- What do your colleagues think of you?
- Do they fit into the culture of the firm?
- In their firm, it's usually a specific need they are looking to fill, so that match will be important.
- Could the person become a partner?
- Not every firm prioritizes this; important to know/understand the firm's approach in this regard.
- What is the leverage structure of the firm? Lots of associates for each partner? That might mean they aren't looking for partners.
- Do they want to live in the city?
- Austin is growing as a legal market
- Big firms aren't for everyone and there are plenty of other great opportunities
Rapid Fire Questions
- Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: ownership/eagerness
- What habit has been key to your success: calendaring deadlines and daily time entry
- Favorite app/productivity tool: Snipping on Microsoft Office
- Favorite social distancing activity: sleeping; Queen's Gambit (Netflix); The Boys (Amazon Prime)
- Favorite legal movie: Intolerable Cruelty
Thanks again to Michael Kabat for joining us on today's show!