@$%#@!

If you are not paying attention, it could happen to you.

We think you know what we mean.

Did you go to law school dreaming of drafting high yield covenants? Or maybe doing document production? Somehow those scenes never made it into Law & Order or Ally McBeal. Hmm, must have ended up on the cutting room floor.

You went to law school because you were a good thinker who wanted to learn to think even better and more broadly. You made it out in good shape, through the Socratic method, legal writing, Civ Pro and moot court.

So what now?

Go to a big firm. Work hard. Try to learn. Sounds logical; it might even please your parents. But to what end?

Did all of those hours of training and cite-checking get you ready to change the world or just be overwhelmed by it? Will you be just one more unit of lawyer taking up residence in a new roost?

Too clever for that? Cushy roost for two to three years. Mind-numbing work. The quid pro quo for an impressive-sounding resume. But is it all that? Sounds too cynical by half to us. There are no “units of lawyers” at MoFo. Here we raise amazing lawyers; we leave the cultivation of pigeons to others.

Sounds too cynical by half to us. There are no “units of lawyers” at MoFo. Here we raise amazing lawyers; we leave the cultivation of pigeons to others.

What are some of the right questions?

1. When they describe who they are, is it simply a list of what they’ve done?

You’ll meet lots of lawyers during the interview process and you’ll have an opportunity to ask them about themselves. Listen closely. Make sure that they are more than the sum of their deal lists and cases. At MoFo, we look for whole lawyers who are whole people and feel no need to be a clone of anyone else.

2. Do the “I’s” have it?

How do the lawyers you meet talk about their work and clients? Lots of “I”? Almost no “we”? All of our clients are firm clients. We value teamwork. Actually, we are admired and defined by it.

3. By “broad experience,” do they really mean, broadly speaking, that you’ll be experiencing the same thing everyday?

Does the firm’s business model rely on having associates do highly routinized work? When you talk to associates, can they describe different kinds of transactions and cases? Or, is it just one big blur, punctuated by different dates, different party names and virtually identical work?

4. Can they name names?

When you ask about training and mentoring, do the lawyers you meet tell you about their mentors? Can they tell you about the lawyers who nurtured and inspired them, and, ultimately, shaped their careers? Can you sense their eagerness to make you a part of their legacy of learning and success?

5. Will you be working with people who hope you’ll be running a deal as a second year?

Think about it. Just how far will your intellectual curiosity and quality work take you? To make photocopies? Or, to be the fourth person on the deal team? Won’t it feel a little crowded? With us, you won’t have to wait in line for responsibility. We’re not big on crowds.

6. What will you have to sacrifice?

Does job satisfaction necessarily come with a lot of life dissatisfaction? Is it possible to do more, to do it better and also to enjoy what you do? We think so. We think it’s possible to do the most sophisticated work, excel at it, have fun doing it and also have some time for other stuff too.

So, what will be for you? The whole, or the pigeonhole?