Josh Hedrick, high-stakes litigator and founding partner Hedrick Kring in Dallas, is our guest on today's show. Josh talks about adapting to Zoom, not faking it until you make it, and asking great questions in a job interview.

His firm/practice

Just opened an office in Houston
Business litigation firm focused on trials and trial practice, so it is a broad spectrum
Business divorces
Breach of contract
departing employee / non-compete
securities
class action

COVID Update (as of 1/28/21)

Impacted everyone in the legal industry
Wife is an ER physician so he had a bit of a heads up, and got out ahead of things
Some clients have been impacted terribly; others not as much
Forced us to learn new tools/technology; had never heard of Zoom a year ago
Advocacy is different in person v. telephone v. video
Can't just do what you would normally do; have to figure out how to present it via Zoom in an effective way
Have to make sure everything is lined up and ready to go
Ensure the right environment around where the hearing is taking place (signs on the doors/windows to keep everyone quiet)
Upgrade audio/visual/background
Some changes are here to stay
Depositions (non-central) by Zoom
Some hearings as well

Advice to lawyers in practice

Anything worth doing is worth doing right
Learn why you are doing it, how it fits into the case, how to do it well, and over time how to master it
Have a sense for law as a business
Being a lawyer is a profession and a calling, but
You need to understand how legal advice fits into business decisions and how the business side works
Usually something you learn over time; how each element of the practice is cost-effective for the client
On business development:
Before a lawyer can effectively develop business, you have to master the competencies of being a lawyer
Once you've done that, then you can start thinking about marketing/promoting/selling your services
While developing as a lawyer, maintain your network and surround yourself with people that you like and enjoy visiting with.
This will not only help you eventually when developing business, but also just helpful as a growing lawyer in general
Doing these things will put you in a good place to develop business.
Some elements are unique to practice areas.
On ways to stand out:
Skill
Strong writer
Advocate
Will
Easiest to evaluate
Work ethic, curiosity, motivation, desire, diligence, coachable, desire to learn
Don't have to be a brilliant legal scholar to ask questions
Biggest mistakes associates make
Not asking questions
Fake it 'til you make it is BAD advice
Associates are sometimes afraid to ask questions; don't be!

Advice to lawyers who are job seeking

Always hard to look at just the paper
As trial lawyers, big fans of mock trial and moot court
If not long out of law school, grades are still important
The longer a candidate is out of law school, the more their experience matters and the academics don't as much.
Looking for those who are at competitor/peer firms since that is the most translatable experience
Likes to see people who enjoy competition and succeeding
athletes, etc.
By the time a candidate reaches the interview stage, on paper they look like a good fit
What kind of questions does the candidate ask?
If they don't ask questions, it's a bad sign
Do more than surface-level research

Rapid Fire Questions

Name the one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: diligence
What habit has been key to your success: persistence
Favorite app/productivity tool: Slack
Favorite social distancing activity: Spending time with kids
Favorite legal movie: 12 Angry Men

Thanks again to Josh Hedrick for joining us on today's show!