The Legal Career: Knowing the Business, Thriving in Practice

Katrina Lee, Ohio State University College of Law

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Table of Contents

Learn more about this series.

Book Reviews for Second Edition:

“Professor Lee’s insights about the business of law practice should be mandatory reading for law students, young lawyers, and attorneys considering a lateral move because she illustrates for her readers the questions they should be asking when seeking that elusive great “fit.” Even with two decades of practice under my belt, I kept having “aha!” moments reading The Legal Career. I can’t imagine making any big changes in my career path without consulting this fantastic, practical resource.”
—Kendyl T. Hanks, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

“The Legal Career provides the ideal structure for my business of law course . . . I use the book to organize our exploration into the many opportunities and challenges students face as they enter the legal profession, an exploration greatly enriched by the highly intentional way Professor Lee organizes the content to be both accessible and thought-provoking . . . This book is a gift to our students. I simply can’t recommend it highly enough."
—Caitlin Moon, Director of Innovation Design, Lecturer in Law, Vanderbilt Law School

“This book is the first of its kind, a business of law coursebook designed for use in the law school classroom, and is critical to the development of the next generation of lawyers and legal professionals. Professor Lee brings to law students practical guidance on how to navigate the new legal world through the eyes, experience and advice of in-house counsel, entrepreneurs, new law providers, and technology experts.”
—Kunoor Chopra, Co-founder, Vice President Legal Services, Elevate

“It is critical to lawyers' future success that they understand the business of law, the rapidly changing legal ecosystem, and disciplined approaches for innovating and leveraging combinations of people, process, and technology to improve the delivery of legal services. Professor Lee's book is an excellent resource on these subjects and the forces reshaping the legal landscape.”
—Daniel W. Linna Jr., Director of Law & Technology Initiatives, Senior Lecturer, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law & McCormick School of Engineering

"This book should be required reading for every law student in the country . . . Law students, aspiring law students, and junior lawyers will gain an exceptional grounding in the business of law and be far better equipped to navigate and thrive in the world of modern legal services delivery."
—Dr. Silvia Hodges Silverstein, Chief Executive Officer, Buying Legal Council, Lecturer, Columbia Law School


Book Reviews for First Edition:

“This book should be required reading for anyone who may work for a law firm at some point in their career – in other words, all law students. So many lawyers become unhappy in their careers in part because they did not understand the daily realities of the legal profession, including the ins and outs of law firms and how they fit into the overall provision of legal services in the United States, early enough in their careers. They graduate from law school unprepared for the actual practice of law, and often spend years trying to figure out how various elements of the legal profession and its technological partners work together. This book prepares new lawyers to be more fully engaged in the profession from day one. It provides all the substantive knowledge that new lawyers need in order to understand how the legal profession works now - a vital complement to the substantive legal knowledge that law schools traditionally provide. It is also beautifully written and a joy to read. The Legal Career: Knowing the Business, Thriving in Practice demystifies the 21st century law firm and its context, and does so in a way that is intelligent, accessible, and invaluable. It belongs on every lawyer’s bookshelf, no matter how long they have been in practice.”
—Liz Brown, Author of Life After Law: Finding Work You Love with the JD You Have

“Law school teaches you how to think like a lawyer, but in today’s highly competitive world, it is imperative to bring more to the table: an understanding of the business world and law firms as businesses. A new book by law school professor and former law firm partner Katrina Lee fills this gap in the law school curriculum and provides law students and junior lawyers with thorough insights into the business side of law. Katrina Lee's book The Legal Career: Knowing The Business, Thriving In Practice should be required reading for every law student in the country. The Legal Career should be a staple in the career services' office of every law school. The book is designed to introduce law students and any person aspiring to be a lawyer to significant topics in the legal profession—for example, the growing role of legal operations, the rise of legal services providers that are not law firms, and the impact of technology on the practice of law. Many blogs and articles discuss the future of the legal profession and the need for change, but no law school coursebook is designed to provide foundational knowledge about the evolving legal profession. Until now. With the arrival of The Legal Career, law students, aspiring law students, and junior lawyers will gain a solid grounding in the business of law and be far better equipped to navigate and thrive in the world of modern legal services delivery.”
—Dr. Silvia Hodges Silverstein (Executive Director of Buying Legal Council; Lecturer, Columbia Law School; Adjunct Professor, Fordham Law School)

“Professor Katrina Lee’s book is the first of its kind, a business of law coursebook designed for use in the law school classroom, and is critical to the development of the next generation of lawyers and legal professionals. Much has changed in the legal industry since we first read Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat.” Professor Lee, a former law firm equity partner in San Francisco, brings to law students practical guidance on how to navigate the new legal world through the eyes, experience and advice of in-house counsel, entrepreneurs, new law providers, and technology experts. Working differently, more efficiently and understanding how technology and new ways of delivering legal services will impact legal service delivery will give this generation the tools necessary to succeed in their jobs as lawyers or other types of legal professionals.”
—Kunoor Chopra (Co-founder, Vice President Legal Services, at Elevate Services, Inc.; formerly, President and CEO of LawScribe)