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Running the meter
Economists opine that a taxi driver who continuously picks up fares and keeps the meter running will earn more on average than a taxi driver who acts selectively, turning down short-distance low fares in hopes of getting a big one. The same goes for taxi drivers who pick up all potential clients instead of making assumptions about who may have the best fare or give the best tip. Perhaps, at least partially, that is why companies such as Uber are so successful – i.e., they do not allow drivers to know where a customer is going or who the customer is until after the assignment is accepted.
Like a baseball player who always swings for the home run, obsession with the big score more often leads to striking out. Or as Kanye West and Common put it in “The Food,” “the money coming slow… but slow motion better than… no.”
When I graduated from law school, it was not the absolute worst time to be a new lawyer – but it wasn’t far from it. What I learned from getting through law school and having advanced my career since then, however, is that in order to achieve the more distant career goals, one has to keeping the metaphorical meter running instead of waiting for the prefect opportunity to present itself.
I had an extremely average 1L year, which resulted in not really being in the running when on-campus interviews for law clerk positions took place. Additionally, since I was out-of-state, I did not have the connections that may have been helpful in landing elsewhere. But instead of wallowing in it or doing nothing, I dedicated myself to other activities in the hopes of bettering myself and making connections. I spent my time working with student groups, including the Black Law Student Association, of which I became president. I competed in moot court and mock trial events, which led me to one of my most rewarding activities in law school: serving as an assistant coach of the undergraduate mock trial team.
Instead of allowing my lack of a law clerk position serve as a detriment, it motivated me to participate in a clinic to obtain experience. The summer before my 3L year, I participated in the a criminal practice clinic, which allowed me to gain more trial experiences in one summer than many junior associates. That clinic, along with an intensive trial advocacy course combined with a heavy fall semester, gave me enough credits to graduate early.
Yet graduating from law school and passing bar exams in two states did not suddenly lead to “the big fare.” My dream job did not make itself immediately available. Instead, I found a job in document review. The work was not sexy, particularly complex nor glamorous. While it bordered on not being legal work at all, it still counted as legal work. Document reviewing served as a resume filler and allowed me to continue to move forward with my career. Instead of pitying myself or becoming complacent because it was a paying position, I used that time to continue to expand my skill-set. I started to participate in bar associations, I read, I took small cases on the side, and I kept looking. And, eventually, I landed “the big fare.”
While getting that “big fare” does not mean I no longer have to work hard, it does mean that all the work going into it and all the running of the meter beforehand was absolutely worth it.
