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As per point 5: this is often the problem that companies who employ software developers run into: they hire a developer who seems to know what he's doing but e

As per point 5: this is often the problem that companies who employ software developers run into: they hire a developer who seems to know what he's doing but ends up producing code that, ultimately, is useless. Are there parallels between the law interview process and the development interview process? There definitely seem to be parallels between operational but lousy code and legalese that seems legit on the surface but is ultimately useless due to mistakes made in (I'm guessing) semantics, grammar, structure, and expected-by-law requiremens. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I see that correlates law thinking and software development thinking...

grellas 17y ago
The key to good business lawyering is knowing how to think through the issues and to do customized work that attains a client's goals in an expert yet practical manner. Clients will come in with a sense of what they want to accomplish but may have no idea how to do it. Or they have a pre-conceived approach to an issue that may not be accurate. A good lawyer will listen to the goals, get a good understanding of the key elements involved, and have a good (almost intuitive) sense of what it takes to navigate the legal and practical challenges to get to the goals efficiently. A poor lawyer will throw around legalese, and may pull even good templates out of a drawer, but will have no eye for either strategy or detail - the result will be a mess. I would thus imagine that good logical thinking ability and a strong level of attention to detail are the main common factors shared between good developers and good lawyers (at least good business lawyers). So, yes, I would agree with your conclusion about the correlation in thinking between lawyers and developers. Of course, in both cases, experience helps a lot as well but the key skills must there from the start in order to succeed.
- timwiseman 17y ago
  I would thus imagine that good logical thinking ability and a strong level of attention to detail are the main common factors shared between good developers and good lawyers (at least good business lawyers). Out of curiosity, do you think there are a lot of parallels between the two fields or just those? To put the same thing another way, do you think that someone who was a good developer could become a good lawyer and vice versa?
  - grellas 17y ago
    I have seen many serial entrepreneurs (who originally were developers) become very adept at the legal aspects of dealmaking. From this, I believe that cross-overs would not be too hard, but this assumes that one is drawn to things that lawyers do. At the advanced level, the most important trait by far is good judgment that assures strategic thinking. If a lawyer lacks this, your deal will be in trouble. I assume your development project would also be in trouble as well without this trait.
    - timwiseman 17y ago
      Thank you.

grellas 17y ago

The key to good business lawyering is knowing how to think through the issues and to do customized work that attains a client's goals in an expert yet practical manner. Clients will come in with a sense of what they want to accomplish but may have no idea how to do it. Or they have a pre-conceived approach to an issue that may not be accurate. A good lawyer will listen to the goals, get a good understanding of the key elements involved, and have a good (almost intuitive) sense of what it takes to navigate the legal and practical challenges to get to the goals efficiently. A poor lawyer will throw around legalese, and may pull even good templates out of a drawer, but will have no eye for either strategy or detail - the result will be a mess. I would thus imagine that good logical thinking ability and a strong level of attention to detail are the main common factors shared between good developers and good lawyers (at least good business lawyers). So, yes, I would agree with your conclusion about the correlation in thinking between lawyers and developers. Of course, in both cases, experience helps a lot as well but the key skills must there from the start in order to succeed.

timwiseman 17y ago
I would thus imagine that good logical thinking ability and a strong level of attention to detail are the main common factors shared between good developers and good lawyers (at least good business lawyers). Out of curiosity, do you think there are a lot of parallels between the two fields or just those? To put the same thing another way, do you think that someone who was a good developer could become a good lawyer and vice versa?
- grellas 17y ago
  I have seen many serial entrepreneurs (who originally were developers) become very adept at the legal aspects of dealmaking. From this, I believe that cross-overs would not be too hard, but this assumes that one is drawn to things that lawyers do. At the advanced level, the most important trait by far is good judgment that assures strategic thinking. If a lawyer lacks this, your deal will be in trouble. I assume your development project would also be in trouble as well without this trait.
  - timwiseman 17y ago
    Thank you.