Ten Year Reflection
By: Ria Nambiar
As Ms. Shair celebrates her anniversary of 10 years of becoming an attorney, she reflects on her experiences and the lessons she has learnt in the past decade.
Ms. Shair’s first exposure to estate planning was a volunteer opportunity during law school orientation. She worked with an elderly woman to draft out her will and realized the level of sentimental value that went into the work. Ms. Shair found it interesting how law could be used in such a personal manner, but she didn’t initially think it would be her career. Although she found courses in the field interesting, what really solidified her choice was becoming a mom. Ms. Shair saw how important it is to families to have this planning. What stuck out to her about this field is the ability to both legally and emotionally be there for her clients. She started to see estate planning as a field that was not morbid but one where people can express their love and care.
Her most memorable experience as an attorney has undoubtedly been taking the initiative to venture out and start her own practice. She reflects: “When I first went to law school, I never thought I would be starting an independent practice. I always had this idea of working with an employer or another entity.” Ms. Shair feels that with her own practice, she has finally been able to serve people in a way that she wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Taking this step has shown her what it really means to be an attorney. Although Ms. Shair was making a choice that allowed her to become more independent, she felt embraced by a community as she reached out to other female attorneys with their own practices for guidance and support. This decision to challenge herself resulted in an outcome she is now truly proud of.
The most valuable lesson Ms. Shair has learnt as an attorney is “People don’t know what they don’t know.” There is a lot of legal terminology in the field that can be hard for clients to understand, and Ms. Shair finds it important to be able to bridge this gap for her clients. Ms. Shair’s undergraduate background in psychology allows her to effectively bridge this gap since she is able to take the time to understand the client fully and make sure they understand all of their options. She strives to get the full picture of what each client individually needs rather than following a cookie cutter approach.
Reflecting on her diverse experience in running her own practice and working at other law firms, Ms. Shair notes the different skills necessary for both. While working for another firm, you must follow their philosophy on how things should be handled, for instance, they often may expect one’s personality to be serious and straightforward. With her own practice, Ms. Shair prefers the process to be more “personal and relatable.” Her choice to start her own firm allowed her to work more closely with clients. They worked with her because they felt that she could take care of their needs after truly getting to know them. This necessity for building a close relationship with clients is why Ms. Shair makes sure she doesn’t take on too many clients at once. The opportunity to become very close with clients and make them feel comfortable enough to ask any question - no matter how silly they may feel - isn’t as available to an attorney working for a firm with different priorities. The importance Ms. Shair places on making her clients feel comfortable and taken care of is what drove her to start her own practice.
One thing most don’t understand about estate planning is that the process should be very tailored to each client. Ms. Shair states, “We are not just creating a document, but we’re figuring out a comprehensive plan that includes all possibilities.” While we don’t expect most clients to pass away soon, Ms. Shair ensures to have short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals for plans she makes with clients. This process requires a lot of thought and consideration, and an attorney needs to be able to elicit these wishes and help clients think of situations they didn't consider. Each client’s situation is unique, and they need to be able to answer and ask difficult questions throughout the process.
If Ms. Shair could give her past self one piece of advice, she’d choose “never say never.” There are countless things she thought she would never do, yet those were the very things she ended up feeling called to do. The estate planning field initially felt morbid, and starting her own firm initially felt too stressful. She has now realized that we need to lean into such challenges and surprise ourselves. She shares: “You learn a lot if you can embrace those challenges. You’re learning so much as an attorney and it’s important to keep learning and go beyond the minimum of what is needed.” Ms. Shair has seen so much opportunity to grow as an attorney in order to keep serving her clients at the highest standard.