Monday Mentors with Fort Worth Appellate Lawyer Brittani Rollen
Brittani Rollen, appellate lawyer with McDonald Sanders in Fort Worth, joins us to talk about how lawyers will work post-COVID, managing expectations, and the importance of geography in your job search.
COVID-19 update (recorded 7/9/20)
- Mid-March there was a major standstill and things slowed; but that has resolved itself and things are back up and running
- They have been back in the office
- Both litigation and transactions are busy again and going strong
- Loves the work-from-home remote working setup
- opens the door to opportunities for law firms and businesses to rethink their physical space and footprint
- do we need an office for every person?
- Benefits for stay-at-home parents
- Learned that she/others had the discipline to work while at home and avoid distractions
- Uses the formal dining room
Her firm/practice
- McDonald Sanders is full-service civil law firm
- 15 years of practice
- Wasn't sure what she wanted to do out of law school, and the firm let her try lots of different areas
- Now does appellate and litigation support
- Figured out she didn't want to be a first-chair trial lawyer, so she has found the right niche for her
- There wasn't someone in their firm focusing on appellate so it worked out well
- Opportunities abound for young lawyers to take on more of the motion/appellate practice within a firm litigation practice
- COVID-19 led to the appellate courts sending everyone home, and then there was a ransomware attach on the OCA website which prevented people from working from home
- Loves practicing in Fort Worth. Big enough to have a variety of businesses/industries, but small enough to have a Bar where everyone knows each other...makes it more collegial. You can get to know the judges well too.
Advice for lawyers in practice
- Forming good friendships with the other associates and staff was helpful because you can learn about the firm, the law, filing/court processes
- Big learning curve on how to prioritize projects because they are coming from everywhere and nobody else knows what all is on her desk
- If she can give feedback to the assigning person right away regarding expectations for when it might get done, that helps a ton
- Or ask the question: when do you need this by? If it is immediate and you have other pressing projects, maybe you suggest the assignment goes to someone else; alternatively: "it might be a week or two before I can get to this; is that okay?"
- Figure out an email management system
- keep action item emails in your inbox
- move everything else into folders
- easier to archive when a matter is done since they are already organized
- How might Slack/Teams help?
- Be eager/willing; that will lead to more/better work and it is appreciated
- Don't just do the assignment at hand; try to apply it in context with the case
- Think ahead to what else might be needed and do it
- Be a team player; have your colleagues' backs
- the culture of your firm could impact this
Advice for lawyers in job seeking
- Show your connection to the town/city and why you want to be there (especially important in the smaller markets)
- Thoughtful/personal cover letter; not a template that you use for every firm
- What other jobs/organizations have you been involved in; translates to create business/clients
- Authentic and confident
Rapid Fire
- Trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate - hard working
- Key habit - to do list
- Favorite App / productivity tool - synced calendar w/phone
- Favorite social distancing activity - reading (Beneath a Scarlet Sky; The Diplomat's Daughter)
- Favorite legal movie - Suits
- passion project that she and her husband started to help her son with speech
- created a device that has common commands (yes/no/bathroom) with buttons to push
- Also a children's book to help them use the device
Thanks again to Brittani Rollen for coming on the show!