Monday Mentors with Dallas Bankruptcy Lawyer Stephanie Curtis

Dallas bankruptcy lawyer Stephanie Curtis joins us, and we talk about maximizing work from home, how to always be prepared, and social media tips for job seekers.

COVID-19 update

• Following Dallas County Shelter-in
• Create a good working environment in their home!
  • She had created a workspace for her sixth grade daughter before all of this hit, and she commandeered it
  • Smartboard plus monitor plus laptop
  • Remote in to the firm server
  • Set a schedule; wear work clothes; prioritize
  • Go into your kitchen, make lunch, and eat!
  • Could change the way we work going forward
  • (Think about going through this 20 years ago without the tools/tech we have available - Daniel)

Her firm/practice:

• She started at Haynes and Boone and then went to Jones Day, before forming her own law firm in 1998.
• Decided six years ago not to come home and work in the evening and ditched her home computer, but now the laptop is back
• She and her partner (Mark Castillo) both came from Big Law, and they do high-end work
• Important for her was to not have bureaucracy in the firm
  • Ford v. Ferrari - no passing around the red folder!
• Small/efficient/talented people
• Seeing an uptick in Chapter 11/Reorganizations among business
• Also following numerous changes in the laws
  • including state comptroller office
  • so much that you have to know enough to identify the issue
• Important to be reading and staying up on changes and news that impacts your practice areas/clients/industry

Advice to lawyers:

• Always be prepared
  • Predict what might come up in this meeting or what the court might ask you
  • Have a notepad/pen/pencil with you anytime you go into a meeting or to see a partner
    • mortifying when she invites an associate to a meeting or call, and the associate doesn't bring something to take notes on, or has something with them but doesn't take notes when they should be
  • (Be ready to anticipate needs - Daniel)
    • Anxiety can prevent lawyers from doing this
    • You need to be taking action and making mistakes, or you aren't learning
• When applying for jobs
  • Clean up / pay attention to your social media accounts - employers will look at them!
    • poor grammar
    • inappropriate conduct
    • it might be your first impression with the interviewer
    • Have a LinkedIn account with a professional headshot
  • Make sure cover letters are written/addressed to the specific firm/job you are applying for
• Integrity/honesty/strategic are keys and must be done in combination
• Current environment requires us to work with the other side to come to resolutions on as many issues as possible
  • Submit agreed orders
  • Take advantage of Zoom depositions

Rapid Fire Questions

• Most important characteristic/trait in an associate - work ethic
• Key habit - preparedness
• Favorite app/productivity tool - banking app (can pay employees/vendors/everyone on their phone)
• Favorite social distancing activity - cooking
• Favorite legal movie - My Cousin Vinny