9 Things I Wish They had Taught Me in Law School

Are you a new lawyer who is making the transition from classroom to court room? Whether you’re fresh out of law school or preparing to graduate; you’re going to learn lessons later in your career that will leave you saying, “I really wish they had taught me that in law school.” This post will kick off our blog series 9 Things I Wish They Had Taught Me in Law School. This series will help you begin to think about things you want to learn before you graduate or perhaps offer insight into lessons you’re learning as a new attorney.

Our first on the list is The Pareto Principle.

The 80/20 rule is traditionally known as The Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle says that 80 percent of the value you will receive will come from 20 percent of your activities.

If you truly get this, you’ll see that you can pretty much pull back on the time you spend on non-essential or unproductive activities to concentrate on the twenty percent of the personal and professional activities which give you true value and return for your investment of blood, sweat and tears. Whether marketing, networking, marketing to and then culling your client list, if you’re able to apply this principle you’ll find you have considerably more time and energy to spend on those activities which really bring you personal value and satisfaction such as time with loved ones, great cases and clients, hobbies, and so much more.

I’m sure we can think of some areas of our professional and personal lives where we can apply the Pareto Principle. Next week, we’ll take a look at a law that will help with finding solutions.

This post is based on an article that originally appeared in our newsletter. Written by Susan Liebel of Solo Practice University.