Julia Jurgensen, partner and construction lawyer with the full-service firm of Beard Kultgen in Waco, joins us on today's show! Julia talks about practicing law post-COVID, planning for work/life balance, and how to show you'll be a good fit in a firm.

Her firm/practice

She is in her 15th year of practice
full-service firm that does everything but family and criminal law
21 attorneys and have been growing
She got her start as a plaintiff's attorney in Houston, but since moving back has done more general/commercial litigation and construction law
Several law changes lately in construction law: surety, indemnity
Construction law:
She enjoys the clients: they are direct!
Got to work with family friends
Likes getting out to the job site and learning more about development and real estate
Contract consulting is a big piece
Waco market
Loves that she knows many of her clients outside of work
You will often know the attorney on the other side of the case, which most of the time brings a level of civility
Lots of sophisticated work and people
Great judges who are fair/thoughtful

COVID Update (as of 9/17/20)

Big investment by the firm in technology
How do we best serve elderly / high-risk clients? (e.g. signing wills in the parking lot with masks)
The practice itself hasn't changed much
She also handles some of the HR duties within the firm, so implementing protocols has been important as well as transitioning people to work from home.
Post-covid
Keeping people safe/healthy is important for them and the firm, so that should stay a priority moving forward
Helping people to be productive working in a flexible or work-from-home situation
However, it is still important to be physically present at the firm if at all possible, especially for young attorneys looking to get work from partners and popping into offices.

Work/Life Balance

It's hard, and balance means different things at different points in your life
Think about it early in your career, especially what you might want 5, 10, 20 years from now
Do you know now that you always want to practice full-time? Part-time once you have a family?
(Daniel) Look ahead at the people going through different life stages and see how the firm is responding to them
She can now model that to other lawyers now and be a resource for them

Advice to lawyers in their job search

Law school grades are important because they are an indicator
If a lateral, do they have a book of business?
What do they do outside of work? What did they do in high school? So interests on the resume are important.
Helps to figure out whether the person fits into the firm culture.
(Daniel) if you have interesting interests, include them; if not, don't!
In the interview
Can the person look her in the eye?
Do they demonstrate honestly/integrity?
Will they get along with others in the firm?
Ask good questions; shows how interested they truly are

Rapid Fire Questions

Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: strong work ethic
What habit has been key to your success: keeping things in perspective
Favorite app/tool: paper list and a combo paper/electronic calendar
Favorite social distancing activity: coaching little league
Favorite legal movie: Erin Brockovich

Thanks again to Julia Jurgensen for joining us on the show!