Monday Mentors with Houston Personal Injury Lawyer Michael Clinton

Michael Clinton, personal injury lawyer with Perdue & Kidd in Houston, joins us on today's show. Michael talks about utilizing various presentation mediums, the importance of volunteering, and how to prep for an interview.

His firm/practice

• Broad spectrum of personal injury cases
  • one-off injury cases
  • medical malpractice
  • medical product/pharma/mass tort
• Jim Perdue, Jr. is president of the Texas Trial Lawyer's Association (TTLA) and is active in Austin right now fighting for the rights of their clients in front of the Texas legislature

COVID update (as of May 13, 2021)

• They were already taking depos by Zoom before COVID hit, and they generally are technologically advanced, so it was a fairly smooth transition when COVID required it
• You have to be able to present material through a number of different mediums
• They never wanted to be the reason a case slowed down
• When using Zoom, slow down. Control your cadence. Think through how you are going to present exhibits to the witness; it might look different witness to witness.
• Expect to continue using Zoom moving forward, though hopefully not for jury trials
• Story about 14 person mediation by Zoom that settled in one day; without Zoom it could have taken much longer just to get 14 schedules aligned

Advice to lawyers in practice

• Ability to take massive amounts of information and synthesize it, break it down, and teach it, is critical
  • since most of their clients have never gone through something like this before, and probably/hopefully never will again
• Start now re: volunteering/community service. Michael volunteers with The Forge for Families
  • It's also an investment in your mental health; helps to deal with stress
  • Go to your Young Lawyers Association, Bar Association, Inn of Court, or your local law school to find ways to get involved and find a place to serve
  • If your firm won't give you the flexibility to volunteer, ask yourself if that's somewhere you want to work
• Take initiative; don't wait for instruction; don't be afraid to fall on your face; confident; ask questions
• Don't spend more than 10 minutes at your desk wondering what it is you should be doing or stuck on something
  • Observe and understand the firm culture and how partners expect their associates to work

Advice to lawyers in job seeking

• Resume should be clean and organized; error free
• What experience did you go get in law school or in practice? This matters as much or more than GPAs
• Look at what the firm does, and look at what they've done recently.
  • Did they just get a big verdict? Reversal at the Supreme Court?
  • What do the lawyers do outside of work?
• Be able to answer the question "why do you want to work here?" not just at this "type" of firm, but this specific firm with this specific group of people
• He always asks "What do you want to get out of this?" in an interview.

Final Thoughts

• Big Brothers/Big Sisters volunteers professional board is an option for volunteering; don't have to be a mentor but can still serve and support the work they do. Email Michael
• "Stress" is good when it is managed appropriately, so do the things required to manage it (physical fitness, volunteering, etc.)

Rapid Fire

• Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: taking initiative
• What habit has been key to your success: time management
• Favorite app/tool: calendar
• Favorite pen: Pilot V5
• Favorite social distancing activity: golf
• Favorite legal movie: A Few Good Men

Thanks again to Michael Clinton for joining us on today's show!