IndyBar: A Collaborative Column: Has Practicing Law Really Changed?

A. Scott Chinn, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, IndyBar Masters Division Chair; Monica McCoskey, Paganelli Law Group, IndyBar Young Lawyers Division Chair

This is a joint column co-written monthly by the Chairs of the Masters Division and Young Lawyers Division to compare, contrast, and relate practicing law 25+ years ago to practicing law today. Each column will examine a new general subject.

A DAY IN THE LIFE – ARE WE REALLY THAT DIFFERENT?

It’s everyone’s favorite interview question—what does a day in the life consist of? Monica McCoskey is in her fourth year of practice. Scott Chinn is in his 31st year of practice. How does the day-to-day differ between early career attorneys and those who are well into their practice, and where do we overlap? The answer varies depending on factors like the type of work, organizational structure of the office, physical location, how much work is on your plate, the list goes on.

For Monica: When characterizing myself using these factors, I am a litigator, managing cases from start to finish, with in-office or remote freedoms, and my workload can be summarized as an unsurprising: I am swamped. My days are sometimes spent in the office, responding to emails, calling clients and opposing counsel, researching, and writing. Other days are spent taking and defending depositions, arguing in court, and/or traveling to client meetings. And finally, some days are simply spent networking, volunteering, presenting, and so on. My takeaway: rarely are any two days the same for me as a young lawyer and that’s what keeps it interesting. My recommendation: lean into the variety to avoid burning out in the four-walls of your office.

For Scott: I now lead a practice group at my firm with 110 professionals located across the country. So, suffice-it-to-say, much of my day is filled with personnel and practice management activities for the group and for the firm. While I am sure readers would be excited about the details of that, perhaps I will focus on my law practice. Let me put my work in three buckets. Bucket one is direct client work which ranges from high-level strategy sessions with C-Suite executives to sitting in front of my computer late at night drafting spreadsheets and contract terms. Bucket two is being a resource to dozens of colleagues around the firm every day on an endless (but rewarding) stream of one-off legal and strategy questions big and small. Bucket three is trying hard to meet various obligations to boards and civic institutions and in the fall semesters to my Indiana Constitutional Law students at the McKinney School. With that assessment, I am struck by Monica’s point that no two days are the same for her as a young lawyer. While I can’t quite say the same thing for this senior lawyer, it is the variability of my practice that keeps it fun and exciting.

It goes without saying, all of us—regardless of experience level—share in the pressures of deadlines, communication, organization, drafting, networking, professional development. We aren’t that different after all. And in the end, as lawyers dedicated to client service and the profession, we are also united in realization that people are on the other side of almost every activity we engage in.•

Scott Chinn is a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP where he represents public and private clients in state, municipal, and public sector legal matters. He provides advisory, transactional, and general counsel representation for public finance, procurement, regulatory, infrastructure, environmental, and economic development matters. Prior to joining the firm, he served as counsel to Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and as Corporation Counsel to the City of Indianapolis. Chinn currently serves as the Chair of the Masters Division, is a member of the IndyBar Board of Directors, and is a past president. Chinn is also a Distinguished and Life Fellow of the IndyBar Foundation. He earned his B.A. from Indiana University and his J.D. from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Monica McCoskey is an attorney with Paganelli Law Group where her practice concentrates on business and real estate litigation. Prior to joining Paganelli Law Group, McCoskey was an associate attorney with a law firm in Northern Indiana, where she practiced securities litigation and represented plaintiffs and defendants in various legal matters. She is the Chair of the Young Lawyers Division, a member of the IndyBar Board of Directors, and Co-Chair of the Social Subcommittee for the Litigation Section’s Executive Committee. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.