A career in law requires a lifetime of learning. Statutes change. Courts hand down new decisions. Technology transforms the way attorneys practice. New generations enter the profession with new questions to answer. But at some point, many lawyers discover that they don't just enjoy learning—they enjoy teaching.
Welcome to the final installment of our Beyond the Billable Hour series, where we've explored some of the many places a law degree can take you beyond traditional private practice. For our last stop, we're heading somewhere particularly close to our hearts here at PBI: education.
From law school professors and CLE presenters to mentors, writers, and professional trainers, attorneys have countless opportunities to share what they've learned throughout their careers. And unlike some of the paths we've explored in this series, becoming an educator doesn't necessarily require leaving your practice behind.
Read on.
The classroom is one option, but it's hardly the only one. When you picture a lawyer becoming an educator, you may immediately imagine a law professor standing before a lecture hall full of future attorneys. Academia is certainly one possibility. Lawyers may pursue full-time faculty positions, teach legal research and writing, oversee clinics, or conduct legal scholarship and research. But becoming a professor isn't the only way to enter the classroom.
Practicing attorneys frequently serve as adjunct professors, teaching a course in their particular area of expertise while continuing to represent clients. A seasoned trial lawyer might teach trial advocacy, for example, while an estate planning attorney could introduce students to trusts and estates.
For attorneys who love their practice but have always wondered what it would be like to teach, adjunct work can offer a taste of both worlds.
Your experience is part of the curriculum. There are some things a textbook simply can't teach. After years (or decades!) of practicing law, attorneys accumulate an enormous amount of practical knowledge. They've encountered the client who didn't follow their advice. They've seen the negotiation strategy that spectacularly backfired and the one that unexpectedly worked. They've learned which questions to ask, which warning signs to notice, and which mistakes young lawyers are most likely to make.
That experience can be invaluable to someone earlier in their career. Great legal educators don't simply explain what the law says. They help others understand what practicing it actually looks like.
CLE puts practicing attorneys behind the podium. You knew we were going to get here eventually! Continuing legal education offers perhaps one of the easiest ways for lawyers to step into an educational role without changing careers. Attorneys with expertise in a particular practice area can develop and present programs for their peers, whether they're discussing a major new court decision, breaking down legislative changes, demonstrating a practical skill, or exploring an emerging issue affecting the profession.
Teaching CLE can also benefit the presenter. Preparing to teach a subject requires you to examine it from a different perspective, anticipate questions, and make complicated information understandable to others. In other words, sometimes the best way to discover how well you know something is to try teaching it. And because the law never stops changing, there will always be something new for attorneys to teach—and something new for the rest of us to learn.
Interested in leading our next great CLE? Tell us a little about yourself and your course ideas here!
Mentorship is education, too. Not every educator needs a classroom, syllabus, or PowerPoint presentation. Some of the most influential teachers in an attorney's career may simply be the lawyers who took the time to show them the ropes.
Mentors help younger attorneys navigate questions that aren't always answered in law school: How do you handle a difficult client? What do you do after making a mistake? How do you build professional relationships? How do you develop judgment, confidence, and your own style of practice? Senior attorneys can mentor formally through their firms, bar associations, and professional organizations, or informally by making themselves available to colleagues. Passing down institutional knowledge and professional wisdom helps strengthen not only an individual lawyer, but the profession as a whole.
Did you know the PBA has a mentorship program? Learn more about it here!
Some lawyers trade briefs for bylines. Teaching can happen on the page, too. Attorneys regularly become authors, commentators, editors, and thought leaders, translating complex legal developments into information others can actually use. That might mean writing a legal treatise or practice guide, contributing to a bar publication or e-book, publishing scholarly research, maintaining a legal blog, or writing articles explaining developments within a particular practice area. Some attorneys even make writing or legal publishing a significant part of their careers.
For lawyers who love research and analysis, but aren't particularly eager to stand in front of a classroom, the written word offers another way to educate an audience far beyond their own clients. And if you're wondering where to start, it can be as simple as creating a profile on LinkedIn!
Teaching can make you a better lawyer. Education isn't necessarily a one-way street. Teaching forces attorneys to organize their thoughts, revisit fundamentals, stay current in their fields, and explain complicated concepts clearly. All of these skills translate directly back into practice.
Students and audiences also ask questions. Sometimes difficult ones. Being challenged to consider a subject from another person's perspective can expose assumptions, reveal gaps in understanding, and even inspire new ideas. The student learns from the teacher, but a good teacher rarely walks away without learning something, too.
Over the course of our Beyond the Billable Hour series, we've looked at attorneys who have gone in-house, moved to the bench, entered legal technology, and dedicated their careers to public service. Each path looks different, but they share an important lesson: there is no single definition of a successful legal career.
Education, a path that looks toward future generations taking the helm, seems the perfect place to end our series. Every attorney's career is built partly on knowledge passed down by someone else—a professor who taught the fundamentals, a mentor who offered advice, an experienced colleague who answered a question, or a CLE presenter who helped make sense of a changing area of law.
Your next chapter doesn't have to mean leaving the law behind. Sometimes it simply means turning around and helping the next lawyer move forward.
