Many lawyers spend a lot of time alone reading, writing, and thinking compared to other jobs where most of the work is interacting. Introverts make good lawyers, especially for clients who want a well-thought-out answer. I took a lot of different language classes and was a good writer, so I thought about applying to law school, but the truth is that it wasn't like that, unlike many of my students, since I now teach law, many of my students know that they want to be lawyers. While they are outstanding individuals, they may not be alone in their combination of introversion and successful advocacy.
As someone who has witnessed thousands of court hearings, I can tell you that a lack of introspection can actually do more harm than good to a lawyer's career. I had anxiety about public speaking, extreme levels in law school in practice and as a new law professor, and I still sometimes speak a lot in public, which I think is hilarious and ironic that I have written a book called “The Introverted Lawyer” and now half of my career is public speaking. I love that you added that because I think that's where I see that you can do a lot of work and add creativity to the world of law. The mental part, and when I talk to law students and lawyers about this, they sometimes think it's a bit delicate, but I promise it's worked for me.
I'm not very good at acting, getting up and talking in front of people, since I didn't know on television what lawyers do in court in film and television, but I didn't really know what law school entailed when I got there. I usually cover a lot of technological topics, but I started to feel that this podcast should be more multidimensional and cover some other important topics to help listeners become better lawyers and better human beings. Lawyers, especially litigants, need to look at each issue from the perspective of their opponents, as well as from the perspective of their clients. Whatever the reasoning, lawyers who spread a feeling that makes other people want to be close to them will obviously enjoy greater professional success than those who scare people away.
No problem, I could talk all day and then I went to Toastmasters and I learned to perfect my oral expression skills and I gave talks and the story I'm going to tell you is that one day, I was talking to 700 lawyers, which I didn't know, no problem. In fact, since the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995, even real-life lawyers have earned some degree of celebrity in the United States. Some of the best lawyers I've seen interrogate witnesses (whether in a deposition or at trial) are actually extreme introverts.
I've only worked with lawyers and when I tell people: “I taught lawyers how to use their computers.
