PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Other expectations I had when entering the
practice of law have proven less accurate.
First, one of the reasons I decided to go to
law school was that I thought I did not want
to sell anything and that the practice of law
was one way to avoid having to do that. I
found that I was wrong on both counts. In
this hyper-competitive
age, being comfortable
promoting
one’s
practice and one’s
firm can be extremely
important.
One
positive
I
found
is
networking
is
much
more
fun
than I anticipated.
would be drudgery to be endured rather
than a rewarding profession. Fortunately,
that has not been my experience. There are
many aspects of the practice of law that I
enjoy, particularly the comradery of working
on a team, the intellectual stimulation of
new issues and evolving areas of the law, and
In my career[...] I have run
across great lawyers at each
In the end, the practice of law did not turn
out quite the way I expected, but the good
has far outweighed the bad. In the end, my
path to the practice of law was an indirect
one, and my experience once I joined the
attorney ranks was not quite what I expected.
What I have found, however, is a profession
that is both challenging and rewarding,
with the good far outweighing the bad..
What was your path? And what surprised
you once you became a lawyer? Feel
free to share your thoughts with the
Atlanta Bar Association, by clicking here.
step of the way, both at my
Next, I was naïve
enough to believe
that the best lawyers
were all to be found
at big firms. I was
disabused of that
notion very quickly.
There are obviously
many different ways
to practice law, and
there is no “one size
fits all” reality for
lawyers. In my career,
I have worked at
the home office of a
large firm; a smaller
office of a large firm; a small office in a
small firm; and now in a large office with a
global firm. I have run across great lawyers
each step of the way, both at my firms and
otherwise, from small firm to large, from
in-house counsel to private practice, and
from government service to public interest.
(as you may have guessed) the Atlanta Bar
Association. That involvement has been
(and continues to be) incredibly rewarding,
both personally and professionally.
firms and otherwise, from
Now if we could just get the
Braves back to the World Series…
small firm to large, from
in-house counsel to private
practice, and from government
service to public interest.
Finally, when I left the friendly confines of
law school, I feared that the practice of law
Ryan K. Walsh
Atlanta Bar Association President
(most importantly) the ability to help others.
I was also fortunate to be encouraged as
a young lawyer to be sure to get out of
my office and into the community to get
engaged in organizations that were of
interest. For me, that led to my involvement
in the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, some
practice-centric
Intellectual
Property
organizations, youth sports coaching, and
www.atlantabar.org THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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