Kathleen Turner Beduze, a fiduciary litigator and shareholder at Crain Caton & James in Houston, joins us on today's show. Kathleen talks about showing confidence and curiosity, turning interviews into conversations, and of course, Free Britney!


Her firm/practice

Her practice focuses on fiduciary litigation and guardianship work
2015 revamped guardianship code
legislature is generally against full-blown guardianships, preferring things like power-of-attorneys instead (and less court supervision)
Impacts the planning attorneys in trying to figure out what should be in the general estate planning documents
Firm
45+ attorneys
firm handles almost everything except for family and environmental
Has grown over the years
Pros/cons to being midsize firm
work/life balance
not the same rates as large firms (but this can lead to more business as well)
quality of work can be the same as Big Law
What's up with "Free Britney!"?
Go read/listen to her letter to the court
Recognize that California is much different than Texas when it comes to guardianships
How is her father getting a % of her gig money in his capacity as conservator as opposed to business manager/agent?
Covid Update (7/1/21)
Courts - completely depends on where you are.
She had an in-person jury trial in Galveston in May
jurors were six feet apart and split between the jury box and the gallery
Montgomery was holding in-person hearings as well
Harris County not in-person yet (early fall setting for an in-person trial)
Has done trials by Zoom so it can work
Clients
Their clients are all over the nation, and the rise in video calls have
Advice for Zoom hearings/trials/depos/etc.
You have to be prepared
One of the biggest complaints from judges is lawyers taking things to casually/informally; treat it like you are in person
Remember that your face is always on camera and someone may be looking at you when you don't realize it

Advice to lawyers in practice

Have confidence in yourself; not necessarily in specific areas of the law that you haven't learned yet, but in your abilities to write, research, speak, strategize, etc. This isn't ego or arrogance; there's a difference.
Be willing to pitch a new idea or something that other may not have thought of yet
It is okay if your personality and a client's personality don't exactly jive; don't worry about it.
Ask questions of partners and more senior lawyers; admit if you don't know something; communicate
Ex. if you are overloaded with work from other partners and you get a new assignment from a new partner
If you don't understand, repeat the instructions
Take notes! Don't show up without a pen/paper! You will forget!
(Daniel refers to Jim Chester's DDB (Deadline/Deliverable/Budget))

Advice to lawyers on the lateral market

On paper
Academics do matter
Beyond that, extracurriculars/interests matter to her. She wants to know what the person is like. Use your documents to show your unique path to where you are today.
Show why you are different
Show why you are looking to move and why you want to work here. A lot of bouncing around raises questions and doesn't look great.
In an interview
Exhibit calmness; don't show your nerves
Practice the interview beforehand to try to help with this
Come with good/specific questions that show you have prepared and are familiar with the firm and the interviewers
A conversation is better than straight Q/A

Final Thoughts

Be comfortable with who you are, what you are doing, and what you are wanting to do; find the right level of work/life balance that works for you.
Everything comes in waves/stages in life, so just recognize that.
(Daniel) Don't feel stuck in something if your life circumstances change and don't judge yourself to harshly if you make changes
Never meet a stranger; build and maintain your network

Rapid Fire Questions

Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: communication
What habit has been key to your success: perseverance
Favorite app/productivity tool: iTimekeep
What would be listed first on the interest line of your resume: family
Favorite legal movie: Legally Blonde (Podcast) / The Firm

Thanks again to Kathleen Turner Beduze for joining us on today's show!