This weekend, I went back to my undergraduate alma mater for a 75th anniversary celebration for the founding of the college. At the event, I interacted with some people I knew as a student, but I also met tons of people who attended my college decades before me (and a few who sadly graduated a decade or more after me!) During this event, I had the chance to meet numerous lawyers, which was no surprise since my college churned out tons of professionals who enter the legal field. What struck me was how I had a connection to many of these lawyers, whether due to mutual friends or mutual employment backgrounds or some other way. This reinforced for me that the legal profession is much smaller than people might think, and how there are very few degrees of separation from other lawyers.
It can be easy to think that the legal profession is so vast that people likely do not have close connections with other people who work in the legal profession. There are literally over a million lawyers in this country, and law schools churn out tens of thousands of new ones each year. It can be easy to think that lawyers might not have a connection unless it’s a readily apparent one such as where they went to school or where they worked.
When interacting with these lawyers at the alumni event, I was able to identify mutual lawyers that I knew with all of the attorneys. I worked at four law firms before I started my own shop four and a half years ago, and these lawyers have entered many different roles within the legal profession. It was easy enough for me to identify a lawyer with whom I worked that was not employed at the same place as each of the lawyers I met. In other instances, I was able to identify mutual contacts with whom I attended law school. My law school is one of the larger law schools, so there were tons of law students who enrolled in my law school at the same time as me, and this made it easy to make a connection.
In other instances, I was able to connect with lawyers because we had all appeared in front of various judges at one point or another during our career. Although I do not do much federal work these days, I have worked on matters before some of the more well-known federal judges in my area. If another lawyer I meet is also a litigator, it is easy enough to connect with this attorney with a war story from appearing in front of the same judge as the other lawyer. With state judges, this can be more difficult, since there are often more state judges in a given jurisdiction, and people might be less likely to remember an appearance in front of a state judge. However, litigators can usually find a connection with commonalities in their practices, such as the judges with which they have experience.
Forging a connection with other lawyers is important to progressing in one’s legal career. Individuals attorneys who meet at alumni events, conferences, or other professional settings can refer work to an attorney or perhaps answer a question about an unfamiliar legal subject. In addition, lawyers that you meet at various events can end up being on the other side of a legal matter and the prior connection can help you be more effective for your client. The most successful lawyers are usually the ones with the biggest networks since they can draw upon their connections to generate business and most effectively practice law.
In any case, if you ever find yourself interacting with a lawyer you might not know, it can be relatively simple to find a connection. From my experience “judicial geography” can be easier than you think, and a quick rundown of someone’s work history could reveal a common connection. In addition, commonalities in practice areas can also forge a bond between attorneys. Making such connections can not only make events more fun, but they can have a positive impact on an attorney’s career as well.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.