Monday Mentors with Dallas Litigator Joel Bailey

Joel Bailey, a partner at the Dallas litigation boutique Hedrick Kring, joins us. Below are some of the topics we discuss:

• Firm is in its 6th year in existence. Focus on business litigation firm and bankruptcy
• Laura Fontaine came on a few years ago, and the bankruptcy work then led to more litigation opportunities
• Best way to learn bankruptcy law is to just do it; don't worry if you didn't take the class or haven't done it before.
• What's going on in the practice?
  • Have to be nimble/flexible with alternative fee arrangements
  • Find a fee arrangement that makes the client comfortable and works for the firm.
• What he learned as a young lawyer?
  • Hard work and preparation win, and is completely within your control.
  • Don't stop working hard once you graduate law school and get your first job...that's the time to ramp it up even higher.
  • Quote: "Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity."
• Key traits/characteristics
  • Being available and ready to help a partner/client/colleague
  • Willingness to jump in and do things
• Want to be a partner in a law firm?
  • strong work product early
  • keep/maintain relationships
  • colleagues now can go in-house and become clients sooner than you think
  • referrals often come from other law firms
• How does communication work between clients and associates?
  • It's great if the client trusts the associate and should be encouraged!
  • caveat: don't give advice that conflicts with what the partner told them, without first talking to that partner
• Work/Life Balance
  • The term is outdated and the better way to think about it is work/life harmony (credit: Josh Hedrick)
  • It isn't realistic to turn everything off for an entire evening or weekend in private practice. You can draw some lines around certain times of day (dinner, specific hours during the weekend), and finding that harmony is the key
  • Both work life and personal life can suffer if you don't figure this out
  • Communication is key if you're taking a longer time away (e.g. vacation)...but even then it is still ideal to at least check email once or twice per day and respond if urgent
• When hiring associates:
  • typos on the resume are a red flag
  • mock trial/moot court experience in law school as/more important than grades
  • In interviews, looking for the cultural/personality fit
    • What do people emphasize?
    • What questions do they ask?
  • Why are you leaving your current firm? Work product? Not a culture fit?
  • For big law candidates its important that they aren't looking for less stress/responsibility going to a smaller firm...it's not going to get easier
• Rapid Fire
  • Trait/Characteristic - hard worker
  • Key habit - preparation and hard work
  • App/Tool - iPad
  • Legal Movie - Boston Legal / My Cousin Vinny