Monday Mentors with Dallas Healthcare Litigator Jennifer King

Jennifer King, medical malpractice and healthcare litigator at Burford & Ryburn in Dallas joins us on today's show! Jennifer talks about the latest in medical malpractice, how to get good at lawyering by Zoom, and the importance of availability and responsiveness.

Her firm/practice:

• Her firm is over 100 years old
• During the 100 year, they did 100 things for the community (planted 100 trees, 100 hours of community service, etc.)
• She does professional liabiltiy defense representing hospitals/doctors/nurses/providers when they are sued or before medical boards; also counsels clients on policy; also does some lawyer liability defense
• Firm has a general defense practice with lawyers working in a variety of industries
• Don't do any criminal or tax law
• There is always discussion of adjusting the non-economic caps for damages, but it never seems to go through; there has been a loosening of the expert report requirements under Chapter 74 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code (good for plaintiffs)
• While the conventional wisdom is that medmal is a slow/dying practice area, she is as busy as she ever has been. So that is not necessarily the case

COVID update (10/15/20)

• She was visiting hospital clients in March when everything hit, and it was striking how when she went from one hospital that was bustling, to the next one which was empty/silent, it all hit home
• Litigation took a back seat to employee health concerns, PPE
• Plaintiff's lawyers were very good about waiting/postponing while the providers were getting their arms around the pandemic
• She and her lawyer friends would practice on Zoom (with a glass of wine!); figure out the chat feature, raising hand, changing names, etc. This helped her adapt quickly and she has since had meetings, mediations, hearings, etc. and it has gone well
• It does in some ways make things easier when you don't have to travel all over the state to meet with clients (though there are a number of benefits of face-to-face meetings that get lost)
• Practice, practice, practice on Zoom!
• She enjoys working from home and is completely in control of her environment; thinks that going forward many lawyers will work in some combination of home/work
• Zoom replacing phone calls has helped and should stay; mediations by Zoom have worked well and are easier to schedule

Advice for lawyers in practice

• Availability and responsiveness are key for an associate
  • She was in the office during lunch when most associates were out, and a partner couldn't find anyone to help him on a project. He found his way to Jennifer's office and asked if she had time, to which she said "absolutely!" That day changed her career trajectory.
  • She made sure to be in the office anytime he was
  • Clients expect a response to calls/emails
• Jennifer never said no to an assignment or project. If it required weekends/nights/etc. that was okay.
• She will have multiple weeks in a row that are jam packed, but may then follow it up with scheduled down time (ex. several days in Florida with friends)
• If you are getting so much work that you don't think you can keep up or you are at risk of burnout, communicate with the partner. Many times you just need to triage your project list to see what the priorities are

Advice for lawyers in the job search

• She likes to look at the skills/activities section of the resume; that's where you really learn about them
• Also likes to interview them by taking them out to lunch or dinner; looking for whether there is a connection - she wants to hire future partners!
• Personable, good stories, able to communicate are keys to show in the interview

Final Thought

• People who want to litigate: seek out those partners who you can find great opportunities for the work you want.
• Never let the political climate or industry news to discourage you or dissuade you from pursuing your passion
  • You don't win by being timid
  • There are opportunities out there, so get after it!

Rapid Fire Questions

• Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: hunger/passion
• What habit is key to success: responsiveness
• Favorite app/productivity tool: smart phone
• Favorite social distancing activity: Zoom Happy Hours!
• Favorite legal movie: To Kill A Mockingbird / Legally Blonde

Thanks again to Jennifer King for joining us on the show!