the big 3

There are few concepts that you grasp quickly as a young lawyer. Those you do stay fixed in your mind forever.

Confidence, infidelity and manipulation are my top three. Kate says hers are hard work, dedication and longevity. I think that's bollocks. She had an easy ride because her Dad is a partner and she was guaranteed a job straight out of university. He would have gold plated her silver spoon to make the transition easier for her.

Not that I'm jealous. I could have had a spoon. But I chose to fight. And it is a battleground out there. A highly competitive, vicious front line. You struggle to get a job, any job, just a foot in a door. And when you do it's never ending. Billable hours, client relationship management, tenders, schmoozing, Friday night drinks, corporate triathlons and secondments.

I've been admitted for three years now. I started with D & H as a graduate. I lost my youthful naivety to petty crime and conveyancing in the Western suburbs and Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court.

It was great work. I love the rush of being in a court room. The pounding of your heart in your throat as you stand up, the feeling that every sweat gland in your body has opened up and you are trying to keep afloat in a tidal wave of your own perspiration. The sense of achievement when you get a single mother who has lied on welfare payment forms to help feed her kids a community based order rather than jail time. The smug accomplishment when you manage to grind an arrogant jerk into the chair at the other end of the bar table. And the warm golden light that beams down on you from the bench with the words, "yes Ms Allan, I agree" or "I find for the defendant".

It was doing this work that I discovered the top three things I think are necessary to be a lawyer.

Confidence: you have to sound like you know what you are talking about even if you don't. A client doesn't pay you to say, "I don't know". A client comes to you for counsel, representation and solutions. No one wants a nervous kindergarten kid trying to argue for them against the coolest kid in year six. Being a lawyer is a bit like dating and if you need to, fake it, fake it, fake it.

Infidelity: By this I don't mean promiscuity. A law degree in 2006 is what an Arts degree was in 1976. The generalist degree everyone's parents encourages them to complete to "get a ticket". All the smarter, more creative people are doing something else after two or three years and what's left are those who wish they were able to do something smarter or more creative. This means that there are lots of jobs. Fidelity to yourself and your annual income, not your employer, is what is required. Don't be afraid to sleep with the enemy (metaphorically, not literally) to get a pay rise. I did.

Manipulation: This used to be persuasion, but I think persuasion was too gentle a concept to really capture what I mean. And manipulation is perhaps slightly too strong. But I do want a hint of malevolence, a willingness to use ideas and connections to achieve an end. For example, if your boss is a nasty-troll-from-hell you might compliment them on something small because you know they will snap it up like a Chihuahua with a doggie biscuit. That compliment means they like you more, they are less nasty and everyone is much happier. But you didn't mean it. That's what I mean by manipulation. Orchestrating change for the better.