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Based on my 25 years of professional experience, I would like to focus on Paralegals and trainee lawyers share their thoughts on what it’s like to be a lawyer today. I truly want every young lawyer to excel. Of course, this would be an unattainable luxury. Due to differences in talent and effort, it is impossible for everyone to excel. "The master leads you in, and cultivation depends on the individual." But as long as you work hard, even if you can't be outstanding, you can at least do better.
Today’s speech is mainly based on my own experience, and also refers to "The Art of Lawyers", "American Paralegal Handbook", "Details Determine Success or Failure", "Attitude Decides Everything", etc. I hope everyone will If you read more of these books after work, I think they will definitely enlighten you and benefit you a lot.
Today, I will mainly talk about three points:
1. Passion radiates potential, and diligence is higher than talent.
First of all, you must have passion in any job you do. Only with a heart burning with passion can there be a person with burning passion.
Passion first comes from the understanding of the profession. It is an honor to engage in the legal profession. In order to be qualified for this sacred profession, you should be selfless in everything you do. Only when you realize the significance of your career can you devote yourself wholeheartedly to it. If you seriously choose a career as a lawyer, then you should let your daily performance prove that you love this profession very much. A person's enthusiasm is not reflected in rhetoric, but in his daily behavior and work. Enthusiasm is the driving force for starting a career.
Secondly, if you believe that the cause is noble, you will have perseverance in action. With perseverance in action, you will definitely have a career. A person with mediocre talent, through hard work, can far surpass those with higher talent than him in his career. If perseverance is the left hand of success, then persistence is the right hand of success. It should be noted that "at the entrance of the law, only those who can endure hardship and show perseverance, tenacity, self-confidence and loyalty to the maximum extent are welcome. Those who are lazy, passive and weak in will should not be admitted."
The work of a lawyer is sacred. Like doctors and engineers, it is a meticulous job that requires continuous hard and meticulous efforts. If you want to be an excellent lawyer, you must first be a "fakir", because the lawyer profession is not only noble and hard-working, but also a very competitive industry. In this industry, you will always realize how difficult it is. Every lawyer should have the belief to strive for the lofty ideals of the legal profession.
You can question that the future of lawyers is bright, and top talents among lawyers are also well paid. However, the road to top talents is extremely difficult and not easy. As the saying goes, many people are recruited, but few are selected. This sentence is completely applicable to the legal industry. Not many people can truly become excellent lawyers. Why? In my opinion, most people don’t have a foundation, but they don’t have a passion. Only when a person has passion can he take persistent actions and overcome any difficulties.
In my decades of life experience, I have also suffered many setbacks and blows. I believe that human perseverance and passion can overcome any difficulties.
I believe that there is a spirit embedded in passion and persistence. Zhang Haidi is a disabled person with high paraplegia, but it was passion and persistence that changed her destiny and made her a contemporary Paul in China. If she did not fight against her fate, to the society, she would be a useless person who could not take care of herself, and no one in the society would know her or recognize her. It is precisely because of her persistence and hard work that she has become a role model for contemporary young people to learn from. , made outstanding contributions to inspiring young people to work hard. She published many books, received many honors, and experienced qualitative changes in her spiritual and material life. The process of giving was extremely difficult for her. Without persistence, it would be difficult to change her destiny.
To be an excellent lawyer, one must not only possess excellent general qualities, but also possess excellent extraordinary qualities. This is the main reason why it is extremely difficult for many lawyers to succeed.
If you want to be outstanding in this industry, you must have extraordinary excellent qualities, that is, you must firmly believe in the lofty cause, persistent pursuit and clear goals, and you must also make extraordinary efforts. Only in this way can you succeed. Only with success can there be huge rewards. Success is the accumulation of actions.
3. Goals are the never-extinguishing torch of life
You must have goals in life. A person without a goal will not have passion. Always keep your goals in mind. The higher the goal you pursue, the greater your motivation. There is an insurance salesman abroad. He writes his goals for a period of time on a piece of paper and puts the paper in the left pocket of his coat. That is the position of the heart, which means to keep the goals in his heart. Later, after a period of hard work, he compared his goals, constantly reminded and reflected on himself, and eventually he became the best insurance salesman.
Goals are not slogans, real actions are required to achieve goals. For lawyers, practicing law requires confidence and humility. Everyone is their own shaper. What kind of person you want to be, what kind of person you want to be, don't blame others, everything depends on yourself.
"Attitude determines everything, and success is also an attitude." This attitude requires a person to always maintain a positive attitude, always be passionate, and never give up. Six years ago, I recommended several articles: "Youth", "Seven Principles for Young People Who Want to Do Big Things", "Work: Working hard for whom, working hard for whom" and Konosuke Matsushita's famous saying "Work hard without losing". Today , I will copy them to you again. After reading it, you may not be able to do it right away, but you must have an enterprising spirit and always maintain a passion, whether it is good times or bad times, whether it is criticism or praise. Whether it is an honor or a commendation, you must learn to think positively. The power of positive thinking is endless.
What is positive thinking? For example, when you are praised, you must see your own gaps and shortcomings. , you must analyze your own reasons, and regard the leader's criticism of you as care and love for yourself. If you think this way, you will not be discouraged by criticism, let alone retaliate against you by the leader; in the face of honor We must thank the organization for the training and everyone's care and support; when facing injustice, we must believe that everything is fair, be modest and prudent when times are good, and not be discouraged when times are bad, and regard adversity as a training for ourselves and a kind of wealth. They all belong to the way of positive thinking.
We all need a positive way of thinking about life, career, and work. I often say that people must have "two minds":
"Responsibility" and "enterprising spirit".
"Responsibility" includes responsibility for oneself, one's family, one's collective responsibility, and one's responsibility for society. Of course, a responsible person will not be responsible for the family, let alone the collective and society.
The "enterprising spirit" is an upward spirit that is never satisfied and never stops.
We must attach great importance to the development of good habits. Good habits will benefit you throughout your life. A positive attitude and good habits are the basis for success and success.
2. Being a good assistant is the key to becoming an excellent lawyer. Prerequisites.
I think a good assistant should do the following:
(1) Be able to withstand loneliness, be able to live in poverty, accumulate experience, and avoid being impetuous.
Low income is temporary. If you don’t work hard and improve yourself first, it will be difficult to make big changes in the future. Therefore, for young lawyers, they must first grow and gain knowledge. It is difficult to become an excellent lawyer with a good income.
(2) Only by always being grateful can you live in happiness and benefit more from the care, guidance and help of old lawyers. The biggest personal gain is to always feel the selfless teaching and help of the teacher. Never complain about unfairness and low pay. If you do this, you will only destroy your future. It is best to learn knowledge and skills from the teacher. Give. As the saying goes, "If you are grateful, no one will be willing to help you." /p>
Only by being good at thinking can one become a thoughtful person.
There is a proverb in Latin: "The greatest people in the world are people, and the greatest people are ideas." This is also true of what I often say: "If you have a clear mind, you will understand."
(4) Achieve "three diligences".
First, you need to be diligent and think more to improve your understanding. When your understanding is improved, you will continue to gain something. Some lawyers are lazy mainly because they are too lazy to use their brains and do not want to use their brains.
Second, you need to be diligent, read and write more.
Many people write legal documents over and over again, as if they are done in one go. They feel that they are wonderful and there is no room for revision. You should read more excellent articles and legal documents, write more and practice more.
The third is to be diligent and do a good job as an assistant actively, proactively and creatively.
Some assistants are limited to undertaking the work of lawyers and do whatever they are told. In this way, you can only cope with the work as an assistant, and it is difficult to grow from an assistant to a qualified lawyer. Some assistants rarely attend court hearings, and they will learn a lot of things that cannot be found in books by listening to senior lawyers handling cases. Only by working actively, proactively and creatively can you be excellent and stand out. If you follow the steps step by step, you can only be a qualified staff officer or a qualified assistant at best, but you will not be able to achieve excellence. It is often said that the farthest distance is the distance from the heart to the hands. People often think too much but cannot keep up with their actions.
(5) Be familiar with procedural work.
For young lawyers, old lawyers are an asset. You must make the sponsoring lawyer think that you are his inseparable assistant. Be diligent in observation, because old lawyers have many years of experience and some things can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words. You need to understand it carefully, from the etiquette of dealing with people, the preparation of evidence, the method of analyzing and asking questions, the method of cross-examination in court, and every detail of every link in the debate. Excellent documents should be read and pondered over and over again. This is the shortcut to improving yourself as quickly as possible.
(6) Strive to "keep improving and achieve perfection"
When doing business, never think that you are fully prepared. Some lawyers cannot repeatedly scrutinize the cases they handle and consider all possible situations. Instead, they write out the defense and agency statements in a hurry, put them aside, and never change them. Instead, as long as they read carefully, they can always find out. A place to supplement, modify, and improve.
Legal documents must be reviewed and checked repeatedly. There must be no typos, typos, or omissions, and punctuation must be accurate. I don’t think the reason why some lawyers often have errors in their documents and materials is not a matter of level, but mainly a matter of responsibility and attitude. As an assistant, you cannot simply help the attorney to inquire, deliver documents, print, and bind materials. You must comprehensively and carefully check all materials, including: whether the materials are complete and whether there are any omissions; whether the materials are arranged in the correct order, etc. To pursue the perfect unity of content and form, content quality is the foundation, and perfect appearance is also important.
(7) Pay attention to details.
Details determine effect, details determine efficiency, and details determine taste.
Attention to details is the professional essence of a lawyer, and attention to details is a concrete manifestation of being responsible for details. Greatness comes from the accumulation of details. We must do small things carefully, thoroughly and accurately. Great things in the world must be done in detail.
Tell me a case to illustrate the importance of paying attention to details.
Our firm once represented an infringement case. Confirming the duration of the infringement became the key to winning the case. Through repeated and careful review of the case materials, the lawyer found that the phone number on the infringing party's product promotional materials had changed from 6 to 7 digits. By upgrading the execution time of the phone number, the Determining the duration of the infringement becomes the key to winning the case.
(8) Main tasks of non-hosting lawyers and paralegal assistants:
① Carefully review all relevant case materials. Be familiar with all case materials and understand the facts of the case thoroughly. This work should be done proactively. If you wait for everything to be arranged by the sponsoring lawyer, you will not be a good assistant. The assistant should record the client's contact information and be responsible for keeping in touch with the client in a timely manner.
②Collect, investigate, organize, and prepare case facts and evidence.
For example, review whether the evidence provided by the parties is complete. If it is incomplete, you should take the initiative to ask the parties to supplement it. If there are some, you should take the initiative to investigate and inquire and organize them one by one.
③ Record the case handling process in detail and make memoranda, such as meeting with the parties, and recording the investigation, counseling, and risk notification of witnesses. Record the progress of the case in a timely manner, promptly inform the parties of the progress of the case, and keep in touch with the parties and case handling personnel in a timely manner.
I have found that some lawyers are reluctant to put pen to paper. Keeping careful records has two benefits. First, it is beneficial to the case. The second is to make the parties feel that we are handling the case seriously. Assistants should develop the habit of keeping records of their work at all times.
④ Check the laws, regulations, rules, judicial interpretations, relevant provisions of the district court, and related topics, papers, treatises, etc. related to the case.
⑤Draft legal documents based on the sponsoring lawyer’s analysis of the case, such as indictments, defense statements, agency statements, appeals, legal opinions in non-litigation business, etc.
⑥Keep and organize all relevant materials of the case, bind and file them in a timely manner after the case is concluded, properly keep and promptly search for the case information of the lawyer handling the case.
Seventh, the position must be corrected, that is, not to exceed authority, but also to carry out work actively, proactively and creatively. Internally, you must think that you are handling the case and consider every detail of the case. Externally, all regulations of the sponsoring lawyer system must be strictly observed.
8. According to the major of the sponsoring lawyer, collect and organize the latest laws, regulations, industry trends and related cases, articles, judicial interpretations, etc. related to the major. This is also the basis for gradually becoming a professional lawyer.
9 Start with small things. For example: coming in early and leaving late, tidying up, tidying up housekeeping, organizing the sponsoring lawyer's information, including tidying the desktop, changing pen refills, sharpening pencils and other small things. Paralegals should start from small things, and a person's attitude and habits can often be seen from small things.
3. Some suggestions
1. Lawyers should pay attention to word of mouth
A good reputation will benefit people throughout their lives. Lawyers should focus on credibility. Lawyers are an industry that pays attention to reputation. In a certain sense, it is beneficial to be famous. Of course, you cannot use any means to become famous. You must learn to use various opportunities to let people know you and understand your expertise and performance. You can expand your social network and increase your visibility by participating in professional seminars, publishing articles and books, participating in professional organizations, participating in charity activities, participating in social clubs, participating in donation activities, attending business lectures, etc. Lawyers must pay attention to their own visibility and learn to promote themselves and promote themselves.
2. As a lawyer, be careful not to be impetuous.
Many people are impatient now. The competition in the legal services market is becoming increasingly fierce, and the professional division of labor is becoming more and more detailed. We cannot just focus on handling cases, we must accelerate the enrichment and update of knowledge, constantly improve ourselves, and strive to complete the process from handling cases to handling business, and from handling business to completing business.
Handling cases is not the same as doing business. The business has market problems and service level problems. We must pay attention to summary and research, go deep into it, and do some study.
As long as you work hard, it is not difficult to learn something. Qin Bing, a lawyer in Beijing, wrote "On the Sale of Commercial House No. 204" soon after practicing, and became famous in one fell swoop; Wang Cailiang from Shaanxi passed the entire process Participated in demolition construction projects, wrote several monographs on demolition, and became a nationally renowned demolition expert; Xu Yongqian, formerly of Weifang Qiushi, serialized articles about BOT in "Chinese Lawyers" when no BOT project had been organized in the province. He has become a nationally renowned expert on enterprise restructuring. Beijing Tong Lihua enthusiastically defended the rights of young people and was awarded first-class merit by the Beijing Municipal Government. The key to success in doing things and learning lies in whether you use your heart.
3. Be good at turning small things into big things.
Be cautious in doing things and be strict with yourself.
First, we must be honest in life, rigorous in doing things, modest in speech, civilized in behavior, dressed appropriately, and friendly to others. Respecting people must respect themselves. Your attitude towards small things determines whether you can succeed.
The second is to pay special attention to your own image when interacting with others.
Take clothing as an example. On some occasions, people are wearing suits. If you dress too casually, it will make people feel that you lack cultivation.
The above are some of my experiences from many years of practice. If you are right, you can learn from it, but if you are right, you will not be able to become a master.