Rookie bankruptcy lawyers could do worse than go the California State Bar Convention for a grounding in practice management basics and developing issues in other areas of law.
My law partner Renee Mendoza points out that legal education is nowhere as inexpensive as the convention. You can attend classes from dawn to the cocktail hour, for several days in a row. I’d lost sight of the fact that I attended for years to remain grounded in all the other areas of law that our bankruptcy clients bring with them: family law, real estate, intellectual property. I got a dose of client management skills, computers in the law office, and ethics. I scattered my card at the scene as well.
Renee’s point dovetails with the earlier post on the skill set necessary to be a good bankruptcy lawyer. Though bankruptcy law is a specialty, to do it well requires that you have the breadth of a generalist, so you can spot issues under state law and guide your clients accordingly.
While this charge is most relevant to California lawyers, I’m sure that every state has a comparable bar gathering. Find it and consider attending, so your generalist skills grow along with your bankruptcy skills.
