You have more power than you may realize. Your law license gives you the power to represent clients and earn a living, regardless of whether you work for someone else or for yourself. 

Even if you lose a job, you keep your law license. So if you happen to fall on tough times, what should you do?  Here are 5 tips to help you get through those tough times.

1. Continue growing your network. It’s not what you know, but who you know. You never know if someone in your network can give you a job or introduce you to someone who is looking to hire a talented lawyer, or who can mentor you if you are considering starting your own law practice.

2.  Always Be Marketing (ABM). When times are tough, law firms start looking at things to cut so that they can save more money, such as overhead, budgets to under-performing departments, or marketing and advertising.  However, the latter should never be cut. Why? Because marketing should be your biggest priority if you have your own law firm or are the main partner of an office. Even if you work for a law firm, marketing and bringing in clients makes you more valuable to your law firm and less likely to be let go if the law firm experiences tough times.

3.  Trim The Fat. The $5,000 per month office lease located just steps away from the courthouse always seems like a “steal” until you have to tighten your belt. So does the customized office furniture, fancy letterhead on cotton paper, and fine quality pens purchased to impress the clients.

4.  Ask for what you want. It seems like common sense, right?  Unfortunately, most people focus on what they don’t want, instead of focusing on and asking for what they do want. Famed author and speaker Sonia Choquette once said, “the universe will fill your cup — whether you carry a big cup, a little cup, or a thimble.” You want better times? Start by asking for better times.

5.  Actively look for learning opportunities.  Newton’s Third Law of Physics says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you are going through tough times, carefully examine the actions you took over the past week, month, year, or decade. But rather than beat yourself up over these actions, turn them into learning opportunities so that these actions can be avoided in the future.

When you use the power of your law license to your advantage, tough times become a temporary inconvenience and prosperity becomes a long-lasting luxury.

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This article is intended to convey generally useful information only and does not constitute legal advice. Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author, not LawChamps.