Blog · Career Planning
The Foundation of Your Legal Career: 1st–2nd Year
L.J. Jones, CPA & CFP® · April 4, 2022
The first 2 years of being a lawyer can feel unimportant to the rest of your career, but they are foundational years to your future success. As a junior associate, they are years to align your practice area with your strengths. Financially, a strong foundation leads to better life outcomes — doing the right things early on means more control in the future.
Think of these years as a foundation for a house: without a strong one, anything built on top is fragile. But a foundation isn't rigid — it's a platform for creating whatever suits you.
The Professional Foundation
Your first two years are the least expensive years for your firm to train and retrain you. If you're unsure about your practice area, ask to try another — firms have invested heavily in you and generally want to help you find the right fit. Build a strong reputation by exceeding expectations, seeking client contact, and taking on work outside your comfort zone, since failure and learning from it is how junior associates build broad, valuable skillsets.
The Financial Foundation
Establish Your Standard of Living
You'll likely make more money than ever before. Increase your spending meaningfully in one or two areas that matter most to you, while keeping the rest of your lifestyle increase modest — this improves your life today while leaving room to build your financial foundation.
Establish an Emergency Fund
Once your standard of living is set, protect it. An emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses lets you absorb unexpected costs, survive a job loss, or take advantage of opportunities without disrupting your finances.
Take Advantage of Employer Benefits
Health insurance, group life and AD&D insurance, and disability insurance are all part of your compensation. Given how much you've invested in your earning potential as a lawyer, disability insurance in particular protects decades of future income.
Save and Invest
Investing early gives your money more time to benefit from compounding growth. Take full advantage of any employer 401(k) match, and aim to save 15%-20% of your pay, prioritizing your emergency fund and employer match first.
Final Takeaways
Your first two years don't define your legal career, but doing the right things early makes the rest of your career meaningfully easier. Build a strong professional foundation by becoming an asset to your firm and pursuing the career you actually want, and build a strong financial foundation by setting your standard of living intentionally, funding your emergency fund, using your employer benefits, and saving and investing consistently.
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