Eric Nowak has had a successful career as a New Orleans trial lawyer and personal injury attorney. Through hard work and dedication, Eric has brought justice to many victims throughout Louisiana. Getting to where Eric is today was no easy feat. As more and more students decide on becoming lawyers every year, Eric has some tips on what it will take to become a great attorney.
Here are Eric Nowak’s three specific pieces of advice for anyone who is thinking about becoming a lawyer:
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Ask yourself why you want to become a lawyer.
Even if that answer is something abstract like “I want to help people” – your answer can and should act as a critical touchstone to guide you through law school and your early career. Law school is long, expensive, and demanding. It is easy for a law students or young lawyers to get sidetracked into looking for classes or jobs that have not relationship with the goal of why they became a lawyer in the first place. Few lawyers I know became lawyers to make a lot of money, but many unhappy lawyers ending taking jobs and following career paths for the money rather than for the reasons they wanted to be lawyers in the first place. The lawyers that I know that are happy are happy because of what they do every day. If possible, your elective law school classes, clerkships, internships, and first few jobs should be concrete steps leading you to goal of why you went to law school.
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Go to the best law school you can afford in the city or region you want to work in.
You want to get the best education you can because you will want to be the best lawyer that you can be. And if you go to school where you want to work you get many potential early advantages. You have the opportunity to see the legal community where you will later be working up close. You can use your school and professors to help you make connections in that legal community. You will make connections with fellow students who will be your future colleagues and contemporaries – as most of them will stay in that city or region. Networks and relationships that you build during law school can become great resources throughout your legal career.
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Early on – go where the action is and be part of the action.
Becoming a good lawyer takes time and actual practice. Pick jobs, pro bono work, clubs, organizations, and activities that put you near the action that you want to do as a lawyer and that let you really take part in the action. Even if they feel like they are small jobs, activities, clinics, or cases, you will gain invaluable experience. Good lawyers learn by doing. And lawyers get hired for better jobs by proving they can do the job. Being in the background on big cases and watching other lawyers is not the experience future clients and employers are looking for. There is no better teacher and confidence builder than actually performing as a lawyer – meet with clients, take depositions, try cases, draft contracts, argue motions, negotiate deals.