The Ultimate Guide to Your Legal Career: What Every Young Lawyer Must Know to Avoid the Mistakes and Maximize the Value of a Career in the Law [Paperback]

K. Charles Cannon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1600940056 | ISBN-13: 978-1600940057 | Publication Date: May 31, 2007

The world doesn't need another book about how to ace law school. But prospective and young lawyers do need the information and insight in this book to equip them with the expertise to make the right choices and fully develop a legal career, from law school to the decades beyond. The Ultimate Guide to Your Legal Career offers a balanced and critical perspective on every issue relating to a legal education and the profession of law today, including: Factors to consider when deciding to become an attorney Getting the most out of law school, from working as a summer associate to taking the bar Answers to common questions about working with law firms, including average salaries and bonuses, billable hours, and whether size matters How to make partner, and the effect that obtaining it or not has on you, personally and professionally When and how to orchestrate laterals and avoiding the potential negative side effects Career alternatives to law firms and transitioning to another profession, such as banking, business, and the government

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cannon's book reads like sound advice from a trusted older sibling. While The Ultimate Guide to Your Legal Career offers specific advice for the short term, it also asks young lawyers and law students to consider where they want to be further down the road. The book is more than just a primer on how to get a job; Cannon provides insight into how young lawyers can lay the foundation today for a happy and successful career many years from now. Most I importantly, Cannon describes what to do and what not to do in detail, rather than leaving the reader with the typical recitation of bromides and generalities." -- Timothy P. Peterson, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, former SEC Senior Counsel

"I wish I'd had access to a book such as this when I was going through law school. Cannon's truly unusual breadth of experience across different legal functions and practice areas gives him an extraordinary vantage point from which to comment on the profession. His book is replete with astute observations and practical advice." -- Eric John Finseth, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP

"This should be required reading for all law students, young lawyers, and those considering a career in the law. Cannon's book is chock full of practical advice and insider knowledge." -- Theodore N. Stern, Vice president and general counsel, ePals, Inc.

About the Author

K. Charles Cannon graduated from Columbia Law School as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He worked for the prestigious Washington law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and later joined leading New York law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. Cannon helped to found a Washington and Shanghai-based software firm in 2000 and then, two years later, joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, serving first in the Division of Enforcement and then as personal counsel to one of the five Commissioners who head the agency. Cannon received his MBA from The Wharton School in May 2006 and has transitioned to the world of investment banking. He divides his time between Los Angeles and New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (May 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600940056
• ISBN-13: 978-1600940057
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #973,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A guide to corporate law, October 21, 2007

By 

C.C. Reader (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Your Legal Career: What Every Young Lawyer Must Know to Avoid the Mistakes and Maximize the Value of a Career in the Law (Paperback)

Cannon does a thorough job describing the various ways to get into and manners to climb up the corporate law firm ladder, such as what job to get after graduating (clerking for a judge or deciding between different types of law firms) and what to do during your years at law school and the summers in between. He uses anecdotal descriptions to describe how people have managed to do so in addition to describing why and when people want to move out of corporate firm life to investment banking or other business related careers (ex. working at the SEC) in law.

Unfortunately, if you were like me and are looking for an overview of other arenas in which one can practice law, like public interest law or any public sector law other than the SEC, this book may not be for you. Cannon does a good job at letting readers know the positives and negatives of life at large firms, and the book has given me more reason to not want to pursue a career in a large corporate firm. But Cannon says little about anything else.

The book could also have been aided by a few more rounds of edits as multiple sections and anecdotes with the same point are repeated many times. The book should have had these almost identically worded sections consolidated.

All in all, the book is useful for anyone who wants to get into a top large firm in a big city or for anyone who is trying to decide between a law degree, MBA, or both. For others, like me, the title of the book may seem a bit disingenuous - this is no ultimate guide to your legal career but someone else's.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Despite its title, a book for people considering law school, not for practicing attorneys, March 27, 2008

By 

swiven (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Your Legal Career: What Every Young Lawyer Must Know to Avoid the Mistakes and Maximize the Value of a Career in the Law (Paperback)

This book contained a lot of information that I wish I had known before I invested in law school. But, as a guide for those of us who already have the degree, it's pretty worthless. I gave it 4 stars because I recommend it to everyone who tells me that they plan to attend law school.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worthless, no insights, poorly written, February 17, 2009

By 

D. Wayne Cooper (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Ultimate Guide to Your Legal Career: What Every Young Lawyer Must Know to Avoid the Mistakes and Maximize the Value of a Career in the Law (Paperback)

As a graduate of the same law school Cannon attended, I'm embarrassed for our alma mater. This book is the weakest of its genre, and I've read a bunch (out of sheer curiosity). What it offers, primarily, is endless praise of Cannon's own achievements and credentials, which aren't nearly as stellar as he thinks, and utterly gratuitous insults to other law schools. The advice it carries will do little harm, but it's superficial in the extreme, offering such trite conclusions as, "Going to law school entails a significant investment of time and money."
And on top of all this, it's poorly written. Cannon's overuse of exclamation points brings to mind the efforts of novice writers to add impact to their sentences not by choosing appropriate, forceful words, but by altering the punctuation.
This book's title, calling itself the "ultimate" guide to what "every young lawyer MUST know," constitutes almost actionable fraud.
Better options are "Making Partner," by Sapp, "Jagged Rocks of Wisdom," by Lund, "The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law," by Herrmann, and probably anything else.