Jim Chester, a partner at Klemchuk and a business and technology attorney, joins me on today's show. Jim talks about entrepreneurship, finding a fulfilling career path, and deadlines, deliverables, and budgets.




His firm/practice

Boutique technology law firm
Focuses on business transactions working with small and mid-size companies at all stages
Some others in the firm do patent and IP litigation work
There is always something new, especially with technology company clients (he also does some international / trade work which is always evolving)
Cybersecurity and data privacy are major issues he works on
GDPR for all of EU and California's law are important
Other states are starting to come online
There isn't a federal law
Not enough enforcement actions yet to know exactly how these are applying; creates uncertainty
His career path?
Tried a bunch of things in law school
Didn't enjoy litigation
Started career as an international business / trade lawyer (wrote his master's thesis on NAFTA)
Sounds sexy, but it isn't.
Glorified tax law
Realized he enjoyed working with smaller clients, but they didn't have many trade issues
Started his own firm to transition
Commercial/transactional IP
You have to invest in yourself early in your career; things that you won't be paid for but help you learn what you like and get better at it
You create a lot of your own luck
Four quadrant matrix (Interested / Not interested and Market for it / not a market for it) - get into the quadrant that is interested and a market for it
There has been growth in the business transactions area for them during COVID; people had time and started new projects
Law doesn't typically embrace change quickly, but COVID forced change (e.g. Zoom, tech, work from home)
WSJ article - COVID kickstarted the 21st century
Some of these changes will be silver linings to the pandemic
Will require more self-discipline
Need to completely get rid of the stigma of work from home
His entrepreneurial ventures
Lawyer co-working space
His own law firm
Subscription based model for industry-specific legal forms
A few other non-legal related

Advice to lawyers in practice

Manage your manager
take responsibility for your own projects
anticipate what is next
Don't leave a partner's office with an assignment without the deadline / deliverable / budget...the DDB
Gives you a much better idea as to the scope
Daniel references a The West Wing episode
Find someone who has a job you want 20 years from now and look at their bio (Linkedin)
what skills did they obtain along the way?
what experiences did they get?
Don't try to live to someone else's standard of success; listen to yourself.
The choices are based on the idea that he is a lawyer because of who he is (not the other way around)
Be a self-starter, creative, entrepreneurial
Find a mentor
Think about building a book of business
The first $100k is the hardest
$400k to $500k is easier
Build / maintain relationships
alumni/classmates
local bar

Final thoughts

Be honest with yourself and think in big picture terms as to whether you are in the right place

Rapid Fire Questions

Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: Ingenuity
What habit has been key to your success: delusional level of confidence
Favorite app/productivity tool: Things
What would be listed first on the interest line of your resume: spending time with family
Favorite legal movie: To Kill A Mockingbird

Thanks again to Jim Chester for joining us on today's show!