Jessie Meek grew up in Indianapolis and attended North Central High School. She graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio (about 45 minutes from Columbus) and majored in Political Science. The summer before law school, Jessie worked for the Hollis Adams Foundation, which provides day programs for adults with developmental disabilities in central Indiana.

Remember Aesop’s fable? The grasshopper fiddled away the summer months, while the ants toiled to ready their grain stores for winter. When autumn arrived, the ants refused to share food with the hungry grasshopper. The ostensible moral: There’s a time for work and a time for play.a

Law school generally doesn’t prepare future lawyers for the long hours they’ll work, the business demands they’ll juggle and the high-stakes decisions they’ll make. Thus, when they make the transition from student to lawyer, young attorneys often struggle to find their footing and may even question whether they made the right career choice.

Since moving to Indianapolis I have been involved in the community as a mentor for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Indiana and serving in several committee positions with the YLD. 

For busy lawyers, podcasts are a great way to stay on top of the latest legal news and updates. They’re increasing in popularity with lawyers because they offer a convenient way to stay up to date while on the go, whether you listen during your commute, on your lunch break, or while waiting for a case to be called in court.

Motive and mindset matter tremendously when it comes to the success of a young lawyer in business development. Harnessing the power of these two key factors and can make a huge impact on the trajectory of a new attorney’s career.

Following law school, Andy passed both the Michigan and Indiana bar exams and joined Schuckit & Associates PC as an associate attorney where he concentrated his practice on commercial litigation, specializing in the credit reporting industry. 

While each attorney or firm should factor in their own expenses, expertise, and other factors listed in the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.5 to arrive at an appropriate billable rate, it definitely helps to know where the market is generally at. This tool breaks down the average rates by state as well as practice area.

To borrow a phrase from Charles Dickens, for young lawyers in today’s legal market, it’s both the best of times and the worst of times. Worst of times because there’s no place to hide. Clients are less willing to pay for the time of young associates. Law firms, therefore, can’t afford to put up with mediocre performance. 

Emily has been an attorney at Kids’ Voice of Indiana since 2015, where she currently supervises the agency’s Guardian ad Litem and Community Mobile Law Programs.  In addition to her work at Kids’ Voice, she maintains a small private practice doing mostly modest means work in the area of family law.