Harrison Barnes' Legal Career Advice Podcast
287 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingThis legal career and legal employment advice podcast from BCG Attorney Search Founder and CEO, Harrison Barnes, covers the most important topics affecting lawyers and their careers. In each episode, you will learn how to grow and accelerate your legal career through in-depth discussions on issues affecting the law profession and those that work in it. Drawing from over 20 years as a legal recruiter and attorney, Barnes will explore the culture and character of law firms, how to move in and out of them, and how to rise, thrive, and sustain a career. Their discussions will offer advice for both Partners and those still on the path.
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Episodes
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Ten Reasons You Will Never Be in Control Over Your Legal Career if You Work in a Law Firm
August 31, 2020 10:30 - 30 minutesMany attorneys believe that if they do well in law school, get a good job and work hard, they will have happy and successful law firm careers. Failure is far more likely than success. Most attorneys put a ton of work into becoming attorneys, working in law firms, and failing. But there are so many factors you will be unable to control that your odds of failure are much higher than your odds for success. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bcg-attorney-search Website: https://www.bcgsearch...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Why ego damages the careers of so many attorneys
July 16, 2020 10:30 - 26 minutesThe happiest and most successful attorneys are often surprised when their success comes. You will do better when you stop prioritizing how things make you look and feel. When you remove yourself from the equation and just concentrate on what you can do, that feels right and makes you and others happy. Too many people base their lives and careers on others' opinions, withdraw when they do not get the feedback they want, or keep pushing to get more and more approval to their ultimate detriment...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: What to do if you're not getting the job offers you want
July 01, 2020 10:30 - 29 minutesMany attorneys feel angry or upset when employers offer them a job they believe is beneath their skillset or pays less than they think they should be making. Others get upset when they are not getting job offers at all. In this episode, you’ll learn why you shouldn’t get bitter. Here are some easy fixes to get your job search back on track. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bcg-attorney-search Website: https://www.bcgsearch.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BCGAttorneyJobs
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: The 5 reasons you don't get hired after an interview
June 18, 2020 10:30 - 30 minutesOnce someone invites you for an interview, they do not care about your resume. They care about five different issues entirely—and the better you understand these, the better off you will be. Your resume says most of what needs to be said. A legal employer may say after an interview that they are not hiring you because "your experience is not right," but that is rarely true. The reason legal employers do not hire you is almost always because you are disqualified by one of the five questions t...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Simple tips for writing a great resume
June 10, 2020 10:30 - 29 minutesDaily I receive calls from law firms and others, rejecting some candidates and expressing interest in others. I want to be clear—there are specific patterns in people who get the most interviews and jobs, and those that do not. This all comes through on their resumes. If you want to get a position, you can listen to my advice, or ignore it at your own peril.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Top 10 Ways Attorneys Can Move to a Better Law Firm
May 28, 2020 10:30 - 30 minutesIt's not magic or parlor tricks that have helped struggling attorneys to secure incredible opportunities. Harrison has helped place many attorneys in prestigious law firms that, on paper, had a small probability of being hired. However, the attorneys who got these positions followed his guidelines and were able to achieve what seemed to be impossible.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: What Happens When You Allow Others to Control Your Access to Information?
May 28, 2020 10:30 - 26 minutesWhen you are looking for a position, the greatest danger you face is others controlling the flow of information available to you. Because others control the information, most attorneys, law students, and legal staff only apply to a limited number of places limiting their opportunities. In this episode learn about all the places you should be looking for work.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: How Attorneys and Law Students Can Use Networking to Find Legal Positions
May 14, 2020 10:30 - 39 minutesThe most common method of getting a position is through networking. You are better off using networking to get defined positions than just applying on your own. You can also find positions in the emerging marketplace through networking. If you are not networking to find a position, you are making a huge mistake.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: How to Find a Legal Job
May 14, 2020 10:30 - 45 minutesYou do not know of all of the legal jobs out there—nor will you ever know about all of the jobs. The more job search methods you employ in searching for a legal position, the more jobs you are likely to find. In this podcast learn about all the places you should be searching to find the best job possible!
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Why Attorneys Should Look at Multiple Markets in Their Job Search
May 08, 2020 10:30 - 27 minutesAttorneys who limit their search to the market they are in severely hamper their career. Whether you are unemployed, underemployed, underappreciated, or need a new position, the smartest thing you can do is look at other markets. Not looking at other markets is one of the worst career mistakes you can make, yet it is one I see attorneys go through all the time. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bcg-attorney-search Website: https://www.bcgsearch.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BCGAttor...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Why it's so important to have others believe in you
April 28, 2020 10:30 - 33 minutesWhen you look at many of the most successful people, one thing is clear: They get lots of people to believe in them. The ability of the most successful people to inspire believers drives further success because it instills them with confidence and a willingness to take risks and makes others invest in them and their products. Others talk about them positively and, ultimately, this drives them forward.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: How much does your law school matter?
April 23, 2020 10:30 - 28 minutesThe law school you went to matters surprisingly little the longer you are out of law school. Do not get me wrong, the law school you went to matters – but it does not matter forever. The law school is simply a way to distinguish you from the tens of thousands of people graduating from law school each year. After that, no one cares for the most part. There are far more important factors law firms look at if you want to practice law for a long period of time. Today you will learn what those ar...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Top 10 Reasons Attorneys Should Look at Multiple Markets in Their Job Search
April 08, 2020 10:30 - 26 minutesAttorneys who limit their search to the market they are in severely hamper their career. Whether you are unemployed, underemployed, underappreciated, or need a new position, the smartest thing you can do is look at other markets.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: What to do if you're fired from a law firm
April 08, 2020 10:30 - 33 minutesGetting fired, or experiencing the disapproval of a law firm, is very difficult for most attorneys. I have seen many attorneys go off the rails after losing their job or having a negative experience in a law firm, and it never ends well. At work and in life, it is always important to react in a positive way when something negative happens to you. This episode will show you how.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Top 10 Reasons Attorneys Should Look at Multiple Markets in Their Job Search
April 08, 2020 10:30 - 26 minutesAttorneys who limit their search to the market they are in severely hamper their career. Whether you are unemployed, underemployed, underappreciated, or need a new position, the smartest thing you can do is look at other markets.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: What to do if you're fired from a law firm
April 08, 2020 10:30 - 33 minutesGetting fired, or experiencing the disapproval of a law firm, is very difficult for most attorneys. I have seen many attorneys go off the rails after losing their job or having a negative experience in a law firm, and it never ends well. At work and in life, it is always important to react in a positive way when something negative happens to you. This episode will show you how.
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: What the Coronavirus Means for the Legal Economy and Your Attorney Job Search
March 21, 2020 10:30 - 34 minutesWe are in for a different kind of legal job market recession that will be meaner, longer, and more devastating than anything we have ever seen. The coronavirus recession is going to destroy countless legal careers and prevent tens of thousands of them from ever starting. This podcast will help you survive this recession. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bcg-attorney-search Website: https://www.bcgsearch.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BCGAttorneyJobs
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: What the Coronavirus Means for the Legal Economy and Your Attorney Job Search
March 21, 2020 10:30 - 34 minutesWe are in for a different kind of legal job market recession that will be meaner, longer, and more devastating than anything we have ever seen. The coronavirus recession is going to destroy countless legal careers and prevent tens of thousands of them from ever starting. This podcast will help you survive this recession. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bcg-attorney-search Website: https://www.bcgsearch.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BCGAttorneyJobs
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Why There Is No Better Profession Than Practicing Law
February 26, 2020 10:30 - 35 minutesMost of the news about practicing law is consistently negative-in fact, there is so much negative news about practicing law it is difficult to speak to an attorney or read a legal publication without hearing or seeing something negative about it. However, practicing law is not really all that bad. In fact, it can be about the clearest path to security, wealth and prestige there is. The complaints related to practicing law tend to follow the ups and downs of the economy and the demands that ar...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: The 5 Best Practice Areas for Attorneys
February 25, 2020 10:30 - 58 minutesThe hottest practice areas of 2019, as a percentage of the total interviews and placements of our candidates, were 1) Litigation 2) Corporate 3) Labor and Employment 4) Intellectual Property 5) Real Estate In this podcast, Harrison Barnes, Legal Recruiter discusses the reasons why these practice areas have been so popular in the past year and how you can take advantage of their popularity to advance your own legal career. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bcg-attorney-search Website: htt...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: The BCG Attorney Search 2020 State of the US Attorney Market Report
February 24, 2020 10:30 - 51 minutesThis yearly report from BCG Attorney Search summarizes our placement of hundreds of attorneys in law firms throughout the country. By closely observing this process and the trends that reveal themselves, we get a profound understanding of the legal market and what is in demand in markets and practice areas across the nation. In this podcast, we share the insights gleaned from our deep understanding of the legal market obtained through this process. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bcg-a...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Should You Worry About Finding an Attorney Job?
February 23, 2020 10:30 - 31 minutesIf you commit yourself to the practice of law and follow the rules, finding work should never be a problem. However, if you are having a difficult time finding a job or finding work, then one of three things is probably wrong: (1) You are doing something wrong in your job search; (2) You have been doing something wrong in your career; (3) You are sending off the wrong signals to the world-or you are simply in the wrong profession. In this podcast, we discuss the various reasons why lawyers mi...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Should You Open a Solo Law Practice?
February 22, 2020 10:30 - 29 minutesA law license is essentially a business license. Once you pass the state bar you are granted a license to practice law in that state. You are now able to go into the market and charge a fee for legal services. The true value of passing the bar is not necessarily that you can go to work for someone else-it is also that you can go to work for yourself in a business that not everyone can do. Today we discuss the top reasons why you should consider opening your own practice. We also reveal why th...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: How Should You Address the Two Primary Sources of Career Anxiety When Practicing Law?
January 27, 2020 10:30 - 34 minutesOn this podcast, BCG Attorney Search Recruiting Manager Brie Mills and Founder/CEO Harrison Barnes discuss the two primary sources of career anxiety when practicing law. Career anxiety can easily get in the way of having a happy, successful career, and the first step to overcoming it is identifying where it comes from. They explain how to overcome your anxiety once you identify the source. And take note: The good news is that most cases of career anxiety are 100% fixable. Once you are able t...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Is It OK to Be an Average Attorney? You Might Actually Be Better Off This Way.
January 27, 2020 10:30 - 37 minutesOn this podcast, BCG Attorney Search Recruiting Manager Brie Mills, Recruiter Jennifer McNeil, and Founder/CEO Harrison Barnes discuss how you can be happier and have a better quality of life as an average attorney. So many attorneys strive to be the very best at the expense of their mental and physical health. Once you learn to accept that there is nothing wrong with being average, you can begin to relax and enjoy your life and career more than ever before. And take note: The large majority...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Any Attorney Can Create a $100 Million Book of Business by Following These Principles.
January 27, 2020 10:30 - 31 minutesOn this podcast, BCG Attorney Search Recruiting Manager Brie Mills and Founder/CEO Harrison Barnes discuss how any attorney can take control of their destiny by generating a large amount of business for themselves. So many attorneys rely on partners and others at their law firm to give them work, which puts them at a disadvantage later in their career. Once you learn how to generate business for yourself, you are in control of your career and can take that business with you anywhere you go. ...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Pulling Back the Curtain on Law Firm Politics—What You Need to Know to Survive and Thrive
December 29, 2019 10:30 - 1 hourLaw firms are rife with office politics and can be difficult for associates to navigate. Partners and senior associates may exhibit bad behavior, bad habits, and produce bad work that is capable of staining, damaging, or worse, ending careers—including those for the people that work under them. How does the smart attorney navigate this potential office minefield? Our BCG Attorney Search team of Founder and CEO Harrison Barnes, Recruiting Manager Brie Mills, Recruiter Romina Filippou, and hos...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: What a Slowdown Can Do to Your Legal Career and How to Bulletproof your Résumé
December 15, 2019 10:30 - 30 minutesYour law firm just kicked you to the curb. Should you have seen it coming? This isn’t about your quality as an attorney, that’s another discussion; this is about those circumstances beyond your control—not just at your firm, but in the legal industry and the economy at large. Host Daniel “Danny” Rindeau speaks with the BCG Attorney Search team of Recruiting Manager Brie Mills and Recruiter Nadeen Weybrecht about the importance of looking up while your keeping your head-down in the work. Loo...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Can You Accept Criticism or Not? How that Question Affects Your Legal Career
December 09, 2019 10:20 - 31 minutesOn this podcast our BCG Attorney Search team of Recruiting Manager Brie Mills and Recruiter Karen Wenzel discuss the role of receiving and accepting criticism in a legal career. It can be painful, no doubt, but everyone will be on the receiving end of it in their legal careers from time to time—especially young associates. But it’s professional, not personal. They explain why this criticism should be considered an opportunity for growth. And take note: When senior associates and partners cri...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: A Senior Attorney with No Book of Business? No Problem! Here’s Why
October 31, 2019 10:20 - 33 minutesYou’re a senior attorney, 7 years of experience or more—or maybe a lot more, and you don’t know where or how to find a new position. Your search is only piling up the rejections. Surrender? No! Listen as BCG Attorney Search CEO and Managing Director Harrison Barnes and Recruiting Manager Brie Mills explain why you’re marketable and why you’re having trouble convincing hiring law firms of that fact. And, no, going in-house isn’t the only option. They’ll explain: • Where you should target ...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Corporate or Litigation Practice—Which Is the Better Choice for You?
October 13, 2019 10:20 - 30 minutesBoth practice areas have their pros and cons. Which is better for you will depend on your personality and interests. Do you find drama and attacking an opponent sexy? Or are you less confrontational and more cerebral? Do you write well but find the minutiae of contracts insanely tedious? Join our BCG Attorney Search team of CEO Harrison Barnes, Recruiting Manager Brie Mills, and Legal Recruiter Jessica Portela as they discuss what thrills and what kills on both paths. Learn which practice is...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Is It a Book of Business by Year 5 or Die? How to Get One and How to Get Around It If You Don't
October 07, 2019 10:20 - 59 minutesEver heard the stories of horrid attorneys with worse habits and yet somehow still have great jobs? How do they do it? It’s called a Big Book of Business. As an attorney at a law firm, you’ll be expected to start building yours ASAP. Otherwise, you’re costing the firm money—you’ll be seen as an unprofitable liability. A Book of Business is your best chance for job security. But what if you can’t? What if you don’t have connections, a network, the background, or the necessary schmoozy charac...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Quitting Without a Backup Plan—How to Keep Your Law Career from Committing Suicide
October 02, 2019 10:07 - 30 minutesQuitting your associate’s job? First piece of advice—Don’t! Remember this: After the bar, there are no other skills test but one: your career history and what the people you worked with think of you. It’s the test of character and skill a future employer will have. Done wrong, your patterns and gaps can make you look sketchy; learn how to better tell your story. But if you must quit, the BCG Attorney Search team of CEO Harrison Barnes, Recruiting Manager Brie Mills, and Legal Recruiter Jenni...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Why Looking Good on Paper Beats Looking Good in a Suit-Finding Success as a Lateral Attorney Candidate
September 22, 2019 10:07 - 24 minutesMaking a lateral move? So then, how good of a storyteller are you? Because to convince a prestigious law firm that you're the one they're looking for you'll need to be a good one. In this episode of the podcast, BCG Attorney Search CEO Harrison Barnes and Recruiting Manager Brie Mills explain that the ways of success for a lateral attorney are knowing that law is a skill AND a business AND a culture. They'll also discuss questions a candidate will be asked in interviews, what are the good and...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Your Law Career or Your Life--The #1 Reason Careers Are Killed and How You Can Keep Yours Alive
September 10, 2019 12:07 - 32 minutesEver heard of work-life balance? For an attorney this means lots of work, not much life. Such is the deal that comes with those big salaries. And how are those salaries paid? Through ever-increasing billable hours and the sacrifices of the dedicated attorneys who work them. In this episode, the BCG team of CEO Harrison Barnes, Recruiting Manager Brie Mills, and Recruiter Romina Filippou will discuss the realities of law careers that often surprise those that enter them. The Team explains the ...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: Why In-house Council Is a Good job and a Bad Decision
July 08, 2019 19:00 - 40 minutesIn this introductory episode, expert Legal Recruiter Harrison Barnes of BCG Attorney Search and Recruiting Manager Brie Mills dig into why going in-house may be your ticket to career death. Barnes explains how the company's problems will become your problems, why having no clients to call your own is a losing proposition, why going in-house is like going underground and more. In their discussion, Barnes and Mills will guide you through the many ways you can generate value for your firm by gen...
Harrison Barnes Legal Recruiter from BCG Attorney Search: How to Be an Indispensable Attorney--Even Without a Book of Business
June 05, 2019 19:00 - 56 minutesYou know those attorneys, there's a few in every firm: The first to be hired and the last to be fired. How do you get to become one of those? In our second episode, Legal Recruiter Harrison Barnes of BCG Attorney Search and Recruiting Manager Brie Mills discuss ways attorneys, both young and experienced; can build muscular and indispensable careers. From specialization, lateral moves, alliances, to mentoring and more. They go over ways you can strengthen your skills to make yourself the go-to...