Log in or register
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 12 APRIL 2024

Learning By Doing Is An Important Part Of Career Development

Foley & Lardner LLP
Explore more from Foley & Lardner LLP

A recent conversation with a Foley colleague reminded me of a key lesson I learned as a junior attorney from a senior partner in my practice group...

United StatesLaw Department Performance
Jonathan Witt
Jonathan Witt
Author LinkedIn connections

A recent conversation with a Foley colleague reminded me of a key lesson I learned as a junior attorney from a senior partner in my practice group: Take a position on an issue, be ready to defend it, and learn along the way.

It brought back a flood of memories of the times I had approached this senior partner to get their thoughts on certain issues in an agreement markup I was working on. On one occasion, whether because of exhaustion, confusion, extreme complexity, or some other reason, I blankly asked "Does this make sense to you? What should our position be?"

The partner responded: "Well, what do you think? That is why we hired you and are paying you. I want your opinion on the issue." It felt blunt but totally accurate. The partner wasn't being mean but was imploring me to invest more in the markup so I could learn from that exercise instead of just giving me the answer.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

Register for freeORLog in

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

View source

Related Articles

Legal Intelligence Newsletters: sign up for the latest legal and regulatory news on your chosen topics

Read more about

See more popular content from

Article

Legal Trends For 2026: How Small And Mid-Sized Firms Will Shape The Future

The legal industry is shifting at a pace most firms have never experienced. Large law firms have the capital to absorb major disruptions. Small and mid-sized firms do not have that luxury. That pressure is also their greatest advantage. Smaller firms are making faster decisions. They are adopting remote staffing, flexible structures, and leaner operating models that larger firms are still debating in committee. If you run a small or mid-sized law firm, 2026 may be the year your agility becomes your biggest competitive edge.
United StatesLaw Department Performance
RemoteLegalStaff.com
RemoteLegalStaff.com
Article

Big Law’s Profit Scoreboard Goes Dark: An Epilogue To The DOGE Trilogy On Law Firm Profit Maximization

In the first week of October 2026, the world’s highest-grossing law firm announced that it will stop keeping score in public. Kirkland & Ellis informed The American Lawyer by letter that 2026 would be the last year it supplies revenue and profit figures to the press. Public reporting, the firm wrote, “does not provide meaningful value to our clients,” and the rankings it feeds “could incentivize quantitative metrics over qualitative strengths.” Justin Henry, Kirkland Goes Dark on Reporting Revenue and Profits to Media, Bloomberg L. (Oct. 7, 2026).
United StatesLaw Department Performance
YMF Law Tokyo
YMF Law Tokyo
Article

Texas Governor Abbott Directs TCEQ To Freeze All Data Center Permits In A Whole-of-Government Action

Governor Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to immediately halt all environmental permits for data center projects, expanding a statewide regulatory freeze that now encompasses power, water, and environmental approvals. This directive establishes strict operational mandates requiring data centers to fully fund infrastructure costs, report all resource consumption...
United StatesEnvironment
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP
Article

September 2026 U.S. Sanctions Roundup: “Operation Economic Outcast” Intensifies Against Iran, Cuba Rules Tighten, And OFAC Overhauls Its Regulations

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) intensified its sanctions enforcement in September 2026, with sweeping actions targeting Iran's aviation and financial sectors, new Cuba sanctions regulations, and a comprehensive overhaul of its enforcement architecture. How will these expanded restrictions and the new presumption of denial for Iran-related licenses reshape compliance strategies for multinational companies and financial institutions?
United StatesGovernment, Public Sector
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP
Article

California Enacts Seven Data Center Bills, Effective January 1, 2027: New Tariff, Entitlement, And Disclosure Rules For Hyperscalers, Developers, And Power Producers

California Governor Newsom signed seven data center bills into law on September 21, 2026, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework that takes effect January 1, 2027. These bills create new tariff regimes administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, impose extensive reporting requirements on data center operators, and establish water disclosure mandates and CEQA treatment protocols.
United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP
Article

No More Counting Zeros: IRS Proposed Rules Make Dependent Care FSA Testing Easier And May Open The Door To The $7,500 Limit

Proposed IRS regulations would significantly simplify dependent care assistance program (DCAP) nondiscrimination testing by excluding employees who receive no benefits from the 55% average benefits test. This participant-only approach should reduce testing failures and the need for employers to cap highly compensated employees’ elections.
United StatesEmployment and HR
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP
Article

Texas Escalates Data Center Oversight With Attorney General Water-Use Investigation

Texas has launched a sweeping investigation into hundreds of data center developments that failed to comply with mandatory water use surveys, marking the latest escalation in a seven-week regulatory crackdown. The state's actions have frozen permits, paused interconnection studies, and exposed projects to criminal and civil enforcement, all while the industry faces mounting scrutiny over its rapidly growing demands on electricity and water infrastructure. With multiple state agencies now coordinating enforc
United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP
Article

More Rigs Than A Year Ago, Higher Costs, And Service Prices That Haven’t Caught Up

Oilfield service firms responding to the Dallas Fed Energy Survey for the third quarter of 2026 reported substantially broader increases in input costs than in the prices they received. The input-cost index was 60.4, compared with a prices-received index of 16.3. Each index represents the percentage of respondents reporting an increase minus the percentage reporting a decrease.
United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP
Article

A Reprieve, Not A Reversal: California Revises Its Stay-or-Pay Law

California employers face new decisions about compensation arrangements following Governor Newsom's signing of Assembly Bill 1697, which postpones restrictions on employment-related repayment obligations and expands statutory exceptions. The legislation raises practical questions about whether changes already made to sign-on bonuses, retention agreements, and other compensation structures should remain in place or be reconsidered under the amended law.
United StatesEmployment and HR
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP