Jon Con Esq.

Steel toe boots, ivory tower takes

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

I want to apologize to an old colleague of mine.

He’d just gotten married and took a 10 day honeymoon (wow!). A month later he did a weekend ski trip (oof!) and couldn’t get WiFi for a closing that got moved up 4 weeks. I filled in for him. I remember the partner saying he was a total ‘liability’ & that he sucked. I laughed and said “yeah - doesn’t want it.” I believed it too. I spent the whole weekend playing ‘hero’ for Deal Team Six. You can ALWAYS count on me. Meanwhile my relationship was on borrowed time and hair thinning rapidly. I’m V10 baby!

He got ‘stealth’ dismissed that Monday. They let him keep his website photo for 2 months while he found something new. He did.

Fast forward a few years - I see it way different. He was bright, and hard working, and put his ppl first. He liked his life. He had balls.

But I was racin’! - king of the rats. And my apartment in midtown actually had vermin. A totally delusional period of my life.

One of those lessons you learn in hindsight.

Hope you’re doing well brother.

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@StrawJamsEsq @SellersCounsel That took me a second - that was goooooood

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@SMB_Attorney @SahilBloom FL pizza consigliere >

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@biglawbro I don’t smoke weed, but I act like one.

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@venueshopper @SellersCounsel Agree

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@nextgenacela @ZachAbramowitz @ebukstel Literally 🤣

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@girdley Founder had the dog in him, then he didn’t t
Invest in ppl. Lost his sauce in modern mania

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@michaelmiraflor As I speed walk past them in a blazer chronically behind on tasks that pay me to consume things I never consume

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@BelkReport When will big law take on the South Carolina market?

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@willchen500 ChatGPT with an absolute resurgence

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@litigationai Wacky unflatable tube guy tenet

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

This is super topical since the summer programs just started in big law firms. I have been taking a few summers under my wing to teach them the secret sauce of what it takes to succeed up the ladder (if that’s their aim, of course - for some it’s just a 1-2 yr box check, and they’ll likely struggle on their way to a ‘stealth’ in that time anyway).

Back as a middie I’d made a list of 10 “tenets” and 5 “attenuations” - they show up daily, to this day.

My fav tenets is: “if it wasn’t ambiguous someone else would do it” - too many juniors get mad at snags. You’re the janitor of white glove mud wrestling. And not that ‘pls fix’ nonsense either (typo tyrants). You will do hard senior level shit with no real answer day one. Make the answer. Guide an outcome.

My fav attenuation is: “nothing is personal, your colleagues are just better at managing docs than ppl” (doesn’t make it okay). It’s cool to take pride in your work & availablilty without surrendering your entire self esteem over to a bunch of ivory tower idiots who will forget you exist the first day of 3L. Have spine.

I share b/c I care.

[Dallin Drescher @SellersCounsel]

Going to be extremely honest: many junior associates set expectations for themselves that nobody else actually has.

The partner didn’t send the assignment at 9 PM because he expects you to work all night. It was just the first free moment he had.

Stuff that hits Friday at 4 usually doesn’t need eyes until Monday.

‘No’ is an acceptable answer when someone asks for availability.

Grind when you have bandwidth and it matters. But you don’t need to kill yourself over every email.

Yes, there are toxic partners and firms that demand misery. Avoid them. And yes, occasional all-nighters happen. But they should be rare.

In my experience, you can do exciting work with great people and still have a demanding but reasonable life.

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@cyrusjohnson Uncle Artie has god damn lightning for hands

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@wstvillrefugee @EeseUr51394 Good with that. 6-7 year sprint and you’re actually decent and have a pulse you can do so many cool things. Oyster world vibes

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@SellersCounsel @EeseUr51394 It’s important to never brag about your occupational suffering

Unfollow doom n gloom lawyers who wear white collar chaos as a badge

Be a dynamic person and see where you land and what you can tolerate

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@imherefortheoil @originalwololo Yep - spine pays too

Be a dynamic person

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@DrewVento Depends on the city and how bad I wanna get banged by the surcharge

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@pop_tartlet Idk if it’s a come up or a been dat

[Jon Con Esq. @SteelToeScribe]

@sweatystartup I relate to this actually