We hear from Catherine Thomas, Partner and Co-Head at JMW Solicitors. After being made partner at only 26, she reflects on how taking the plunge into the deep end is what we need to force ourselves to do.
Below, she offers her advice to aspiring lawyers - those who are just heading into the legal sphere, eager, yet perhaps slightly apprehensive.
Imposter syndrome. That little voice in your head telling you that you’re not good enough to be in your current role, or that you shouldn’t apply for that new one. You’ll be found out, people will know you aren’t up to it, you’ll be humiliated.
The often quoted Hewlett Packard internal study found that men apply for jobs when they meet 60% of the criteria and women only when they reach 100%. Is it that doubting little voice that’s holding women lawyers back?
The doubting voice is best drowned out with other voices.
No one comes out of law school a fully functioning, all round great lawyer. It takes time, it takes experience and tonnes more learning. I do, however, have a clear memory when starting my training contract of being convinced I would know everything about my chosen area of law once I qualified. I looked at those who had qualified ahead of me and was sure they must know everything. They were solicitors now after all. I didn’t qualify knowing everything, of course, and had only scratched the surface by then. That notion was ridiculous, but perhaps it’s those sort of unreasonable expectations that fuel the little voice, and we should all be a bit easier on our future selves.
Take those positive messages and remember them.
In every career, we have to make the decision whether to go for the easy option, stay in our comfy role that we are so used to, or push on further. That is prime time for the doubts, but every time I have made the decision to be as ambitious as I can be and to push on, I have looked back delighted I made the leap. Even if you don’t get where you want to be on the first attempt you will certainly learn something that will put you in good stead next time. Ask yourself what do you really have to lose other than the possibility of rejection? Is that worth not taking the chance?
The doubting voice is best drowned out with other voices. Speak to the people in your life who know you best and take their advice. Chances are they think you’re great and will tell you so. Take those positive messages and remember them. Remind yourself about the times when you had good feedback from a boss or praise from a client. You got that because you are good at what you do. I know a female lawyer who keeps a “good girl file” in which she stores positive feedback to use as a “pick me up” when her confidence is getting low. Try it, it might be enough to shush that voice on a bad day.
I know a female lawyer who keeps a “good girl file” in which she stores positive feedback to use as a “pick me up” when her confidence is getting low.
Think also about your more junior colleagues and whether you praise them when they do a good job. They may well be battling with their own doubts. In a busy environment, it’s easy to focus on your own massive to-do list and forget to how much a pat on the back can mean to someone else. Help foster an environment of support.
If being under confident means something like public speaking terrifies you, but that lack of confidence is holding you back, do the thing that frightens you.
If you want to progress in your own career but don’t know how or whether you are good enough, take as much advice as you can about what you need to do to reach your goals. There is nothing like a good strategy to get you where you want to be. If you perceive there are hurdles to overcome for you to gain the experience you need, raise that with your supervisor now. Tell them you want more experience in that area and ask what you can do to get it. Don’t wait until your annual review comes round as you will lose valuable development time.
If being under confident means something like public speaking terrifies you, but that lack of confidence is holding you back, do the thing that frightens you. Put yourself forward for some public speaking, prepare well, be terrified, still your shaking hands, feel your heart race through the whole thing, but get it done. I promise it will not be as bad as you think. It never is, and you will have proved to yourself that you can do it and the voice was wrong. It’s genuinely liberating.
Catherine Thomas
Having been a partner since the age of just 26, Catherine is an experienced strategist and leader in elite-level cases. In recent years, she has handled a number of the highest profile matrimonial cases to pass through the courts, including in the case of Al Baker v Al Baker, she secured a lump sum of £63 million for her client, which is believed to be the largest lump sum ever awarded against a spouse after a foreign divorce.
