Top Lawyers: Benjamin Cooper Of PreLawPro On The 5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law

Be ruthlessly self-interested, not ruthlessly selfish. Self-Interest and selfishness are not the same thing, one builds and invests, the other undercuts and dies at the hand of your ego. Lawyers who are at the top of their game are self-interested in their long-term careers. As a result, they never put themselves first, but instead place their clients, and the services they provide them, at the forefront of their mind.

The legal field is known to be extremely competitive. Lawyers are often smart, ambitious, and highly educated. That being said, what does it take to stand out and become a “Top Lawyer” in your specific field of law? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law”, we are talking to top lawyers who share what it takes to excel and stand out in your industry.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Benjamin J. Cooper.

Benjamin Cooper is a former civil litigator who practiced law in both Australia, and England. Having spent most of his career at an international law firm in London’s financial district, he later relocated to Texas. Soon after arriving in the Lonestar state, he stepped into the role of Pre-Law Program Manager at Baylor University. He’s since assisted 100’s of students gain admission to law schools all over the United States. He has also taught college classes on the legal profession, the admissions process, and academic and career success. While at Baylor, he oversaw the growth of the Pre-Law program from less than 500 students, to more than 1,300. After leaving Baylor, he founded PreLawPro, a law school admissions and career consulting firm that assists law school applicants, and young professionals (not just lawyers) in the United States and internationally, seeking to develop their careers. He is also the host and producer of ‘The Professionists Podcast’ which focuses on career paths and professional development.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is the “backstory” that brought you to this particular career path in Law? Did you want to be an attorney “when you grew up”?

I graduated from law school in 2005 and I’d always planned on relocating to London to practice law, but in 2007–08 the financial crisis hit. Banks were going bankrupt, law firms too.

When I advised my boss and mentor of my plans to head to London, he expressed his disappointment and encouraged me to stay. However, when I explained how committed I was, he didn’t just wish me well, he genuinely supported me. Not everyone did. I worked closely with another senior lawyer (we’ll call him Dan) who I had come to admire.

As I explained my plans, he laughed at me and said, point blank,

‘You won’t make it. I went to London in the 90’s when things were terrible, and I came home after 6 weeks. This downturn is way worse than it was in the 90’s. You’re making a huge mistake. You won’t get a job and I will bet you lunch at (some fancy restaurant I can’t remember the name of) you will be back here, cap in hand, in six weeks.’

I thanked him for his concern hung up the phone and resolved that come what may, I would not come home before 6 weeks, come what may.

Around 5 years later I left London, for Baylor University and eventually found myself overseeing their Pre-Law program. It was an amazing opportunity to help shape the next generation of lawyers, and I thoroughly enjoyed teaching students about the legal profession and helping them gain admission to some of the nation’s most prestigious law schools.

After meeting my wife, I moved to Dallas, and founded PreLawPro. The law, as a profession, has opened up many doors for me, and I hope to help give back to a profession that has given me so much.

Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?

As a litigator, my practice was focused largely on insurance law and mortgage fraud, with my clients being either insurers, or financial institutions. In my consulting practice at PreLawPro, my primary practice revolves around assisting law school applicants gain admission to the best possible schools, at the lowest possible price. I also do a lot of career coaching and consulting.

You are a successful attorney. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Thankfully, my parents never believed in participation trophies, so the risk of failure was a normal part of everything we did and while it was never fun, it was always instructive. This definitely helped my relocation to the UK in the middle of the financial crisis, without a job. I knew failure was a very real risk, and I would have heard plenty of people telling me ‘I told you so,’ had I failed. Thankfully, it never came to that. All too often, our fears are based on the worst-case scenario that is, at best, just one of several possible scenarios rather than a foregone conclusion.

Secondly, I had a ‘what if’ outlook. What if I could move to England? What if I could find a job, and make a life? What if I could prove them all wrong? I think anyone who has any level aspiration has to look at the world through that lens, and wonder ‘what if I succeed?’ far more than ‘what if I fail?’ Failure will happen, but it’s only an issue if you see it as a destination, rather than a necessary process that leads to your eventual success.

Finally, I’ve always placed an extremely high value on genuine relationships. As a result, I not only enjoyed networking, but with time, it became a skillset. It’s led to some wonderful opportunities, including a rather memorable evening watching the Superbowl at the US Embassy in London. It was definitely one of those ‘man, this is cool’ memories.

Do you think you have had luck in your success? Can you explain what you mean?

I think it would be audacious to think that I haven’t had some luck along the way, I certainly have. But, I think it’s fair to say that while some luck is just that, an awful lot of what we call luck looks a lot like hard and consistent work. Early in my career I also chose to adopt an ‘always say yes’ mentality. If someone suggested coffee, I said yes. If someone was interesting, and worked in an industry that I might like to have as a client, I’d ask them to coffee. If opportunity knocked, I always said yes and having an open mind is a powerful thing.

Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?

The most accurate answer is, ‘it depends.’ Certainly, the law school you attend has some bearing on how others see you. ‘Oh, she went to Prestigious U’ can carry a lot of weight when our parents get together with their friends, and to those outside of the law. But, where you go to law school is just one of many factors people need to consider when deciding where to go. I would certainly never recommend choosing a school solely because of its ranking. You really don’t need to go to Yale, if your goal is to work as a property lawyer in Michigan, or as a family lawyer in Oklahoma. Equally, I work with all my clients to make sure we have a carefully considered strategy. For example, if you were admitted to Yale, you should have some full scholarships on the table elsewhere. Your school choice does have relevance if your goal is to work at firm like Cravath, in New York. But, at the same time, the cost of attending some of the supposedly more prestigious schools, will make your student debt so high that working at Cravath might end up being the only way you can afford to pay for your J.D — whether you want to or not!

The answers to these questions are complex and really require the specific person and their goals to be carefully considered. Consequently, the ranking of a school is just one of many considerations to account for when choosing a program. With all that said, with a carefully planned strategy, you can give yourself the luxury of choosing your law school, rather than having it chosen for you; and I love helping people do that.

Based on the lessons you have learned from your experience, if you could go back in time and speak to your twenty-year-old self, what would you say? Would you do anything differently?

I’d start by making sure that my younger self understood the stupidity of the idea that I’d be old at 27. Like so many young students, I had this distorted view of my success timeframe. I’d also tell myself to invest in my development as both a professional, and as a person. I could be a great person, but if I don’t invest in my professional development, it creates a problem. Alternatively, if I invested solely in my professional life at the expense of my personal one — then longer-term problems can arise. It’s not so much about finding equal time for everything, but enough time for what really matters.

As for the law, I’d encourage my younger self to strongly consider working for a few years before I went to law school. There are important lessons in life that can’t ever be learned in a classroom, no matter how hard we try.

Finally, I didn’t find my first real mentor until I was in my mid 20’s and I could have really benefited from having found one much earlier.

This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?

Most people will say that, at some level, they had a desire to help others. I think that’s largely true, but that doesn’t have to mean doing typical ‘feel good’ law.

If you only want to help people in a very easily defined, publicly viewed way, you might be better off in another profession. What you need to have, is a broad definition of what it means to help and your role in that process. It doesn’t have to look the way you might have conceived in your head.

One Friday afternoon, during a debrief with a partner I worked for, I asked him what motivated him to keep doing this kind of work (product liability). Why, after such a long career did he not only enjoy the work, but seem so invested in it?

I very clearly remember his response:

‘Ben, these people are importing cheap, poorly manufactured products that people put in their homes. Homes where they’ve built memories and lives. The manufacture knows they [clothes dryers] cause fires, but they keep bringing them in and selling them. Money can fix a lot of things, but it can’t replace memories or loved ones. The harder we hit these guys and the more often we do it, the sooner they’ll stop importing and selling this garbage. That’s why I love the work; I’ve got a small but important part of the world that I can change for the better. I don’t need to save the whales, because I know what I do has the power to make a difference in my little slice of the world.’

Whatever your practice area, you have to understand your ‘why’ through a broad lens of what it means to help others.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Right now, I am working on several online classes that are aimed at helping aspiring attorneys make the most of their legal education. As education shifts away from the traditional brick and mortar model, it’s exciting to be part of that transition. I’m also really excited about PreLawPro and the 2022/23 cycle, hopefully we see the return of a little more normality after the chaos of the last two years.

Season 3 of The Professionists Podcast is also now in production, so I am also looking forward to continuing that journey this spring, and into the summer.

Where do you go from here? Where do you aim to be in the next chapter of your career?

PreLawPro has been a passion of mine that’s been bubbling away for a few years, so it’s been exciting to bring it from an idea to reality. Our goal is definitely to grow as a firm, and to really leverage the fact that too many people are getting admissions advice from consultants who have either never gone to law school, or spent more time in law school, than in legal practice. That’s a problem.

You wouldn’t ask a dentist how to become a commercial pilot, and what it is like — why should law be any different?

In addition to wanting to become a market leader, we also hope to build out a niche as place people come not only to get into great law schools, but to truly explore their potential career options, before and after their J.D.

Without sharing anything confidential, can you please share your most successful “war story”? Can you share the funniest?

I think I will leave the humorous stories to those at the criminal bar — they always have the best tales! As for war stories, I think the one I remain the proudest of involved a multi-level, multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme that involved a law firm, mortgage broker and a property valuer, working in concert. There were freezing orders, forensic accountants, investigations, police investigations — it was an exciting case to be part of, especially as a junior associate who was given a lot of responsibility.

It was a thrill, and while I loved litigation, of all the different roles a lawyer has in litigation, I found investigations to be the most amongst the most enjoyable, even more than court room advocacy — which is much less frequent than people think.

Ok, fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing some advice for aspiring lawyers. Do you work remotely? Onsite? Or Hybrid? What do you think will be the future of how law offices operate? What do you prefer? Can you please explain what you mean?

At PreLawPro, I work entirely from home which is something I love. We serve clients from all over the US, and internationally, and as long as I am able to access the internet, I’m ready to roll! When I was in private practice, I would commute 90 minutes each way to swanky office in central London and there was no remote option. COVID changed everything, and while I think it’s shown that flexible arrangements are very workable, I think the business of law will mean that we will see firms transition back to an in-person arrangement, or at the very least a hybrid/flexible format.

How has the legal world changed since COVID? How do you think it might change in the near future? Can you explain what you mean?

Honestly, the true extent of that change remains to be seen. Law firms have traditionally been very reluctant to even consider flexible work arrangements, but COVID proved it can be done by associates and partners alike. However, I don’t see it as being a lasting change, unlike what you might see in Tech.

If we do see some lasting adjustments, it’s likely to happen first with BigLaw. They have the means to implement it from a budget standpoint, and they are competing for the best new talent, who will want the option of at least some flexible arrangements.

Increasingly, technology will also start to change the nature of legal work, and while lawyers like to think they are immune to automation, they aren’t. Software can do discovery at a fraction of the cost and far faster than a junior associate, with greater accuracy. Contracts with advance software requiring a supervisory review, rather than by a junior associate, followed by a partner review. Technology won’t make lawyers redundant, but it will change what they do, and how.

We often hear about the importance of networking and getting referrals. Is this still true today? Has the nature of networking changed or has its importance changed? Can you explain what you mean?

Having a strong network and referrals will always be important, and I think it is more so now, than ever. Not only is having a client following vital in the quest for partnership, but it is one of the things that will allow lawyers to reposition themselves in the face of automation. When things went pear-shaped in 2007–2008 everyone was caught off guard, when it happens again (and it will) those who have solid, dependable relationships will be strongly placed to weather the storm.

In the very near future, networking events of the pre-COVID era will return, but people are far more open to digital networking. Things like LinkedIn introductions and Zoom calls will become a lot more normal, although the importance of face-to-face time interactions will remain. However, COVID made it very easy to be isolated and so we need to be very deliberate about making the effort to reach out to those in our networks, on a regular basis. Something as simple as a text message, or a periodic voicemail can make a huge difference and takes very little effort. Our technology has also made it much easier to create meaningful networks with people outside of our normal geographic areas, meaning the possibilities are almost endless!

The downside is that reaching out to strangers is something that a lot of young professionals found intimidating, pre-COVID. Anecdotally, I am seeing the impact of the lockdowns and the isolation they caused, manifest in the form of a severe reluctance to take those initial first steps of reaching out, even on a platform like LinkedIn. I love helping people learn how to do this well, and to overcome that reluctance. Those who can leverage the power of this technology, and pair it with genuine relationships, will not only have large networks, but reliable ones.

Based on your experience, how can attorneys effectively leverage social media to build their practice?

It doesn’t matter whether you are a partner in a smaller firm, an associate in BigLaw, or a GC somewhere — every lawyer needs to be leveraging social media. Right off the bat, you never know where your career could take you and having a professional social media presence (which doesn’t include your college days) is something that you can leverage into finding the next role, marketing for your own firm, or creating professional credibility for yourself. When I talk about social media, I am not saying all corporate lawyers need to start doing TikTok dances. Social media is broad and LinkedIn is a great medium for professionals. Go where your clients are, and make sure you have a presence on that platform.

I am also continually surprised at how few lawyers maintain their own personal websites. It is a very affordable way for lawyers, regardless of their career stage to effectively build a meaningful personal brand. Not only does this allow them to build their own client list, independent of their firm, it allows them to develop the kind of client following that accelerates a path to partnership, while building credibility in their practice area.

Excellent. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law?” Please share a story or an example for each.

1. All too often, lawyers think like employees, and not entrepreneurs. The profession of law is changing, and those who aren’t willing to innovate and look at new business modes and funding, will find themselves struggling to keep up. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be an employee, but it means have the entrepreneurial mindset. Look for ways to add value to your clients, demonstrate creativity, and build a a following — all of it can be leveraged in a bunch of different ways that can serve you, your employer and most importantly, your clients. It’s also a really great way to build a niche for yourself. I have a good friend who wanted to build an appellate law practice, but there wasn’t one at his firm. Rather than starting his own, he stayed at the firm, but thought of himself like an entrepreneur, building a business, within his current job. He posted court decision updates on social media, released updates online and as a result, the cases started coming his way. Now, he is not only a board-certified specialist in the area, but he is a newly minted partner — all because of his entrepreneurial mindset.
2. Be ruthlessly self-interested, not ruthlessly selfish. Self-Interest and selfishness are not the same thing, one builds and invests, the other undercuts and dies at the hand of your ego. Lawyers who are at the top of their game are self-interested in their long-term careers. As a result, they never put themselves first, but instead place their clients, and the services they provide them, at the forefront of their mind. They stay on top of their practice areas, always being aware of new developments, and do so as a priority. The self-interested lawyer understands the importance of genuine long-term relationships and invests in them, the selfish one uses them as a means to end. The client’s interests and the lawyer’s are, uniquely tied together, and the best lawyers tend to understand that in a holistic way.
3. Have an attitude of ‘Yes,’ but the power to say ‘No.’ In order to be a leading lawyer in your practice area, you need to have an inclination for ways to say ‘yes.’ As lawyers, you’re trained to look for issues — think of every law school exam, ever. Your client’s pay you to look for potential problems and find a way to avoid them, so this mindset can be hard to adopt, but it’s key. It’s looking for reasons to say yes to a meeting, yes to a new opportunity, yes to trialing a new technology or business model. On the other hand, the very best lawyers also balance a ‘yes’ mindset with the ability to unapologetically say ‘no.’ They know when to say ‘no, I am afraid that’s not really in my practice area’ and when to say ‘no, I am afraid I can’t take on another case right now.’ Those who are all ‘yes’ without the capacity to say ‘no’ when its needed, not only tend to be the least happy, but they also tend to be ones we discuss at the mandatory ethics seminars discussing professional negligence!
4. Be politically astute, without being political. Lawyers and law firms have to be politically aware of their surroundings, and in this sense when I say ‘political’ I am not exclusively referring to Democrat or Republican, it’s much broader than that. Whether that’s appreciating the political landscape at the client’s business, the political leanings of a judge, DA or Sherriff, or understanding internal firm politics, being aware and astute is key. Any lawyer that isn’t at least aware of the political game that is being played will find themselves not only in unappealing situations, but with a slower, steeper path professionally. This awareness is not by confused with being overtly political. The smoothest operators are the most politically aware, while often being the hardest to pin down. This sounds straightforward enough, but it’s hard to do well. We also know the person playing politics who never takes an actual position on anything, neither are good. Be politically astute, and political only when you need to.
5. Have a genuine passion outside of the law. It is very easy for the law to be an all-consuming profession — if you let it. For that reason, all great attorneys have an interest outside of the law that they pursue be that a family, a sport or an artistic pursuit. Not only does it make them more interesting people, but it takes them out of the world of law. It cultivates a willingness to learn and to see things differently to the win/loss mindset that can too easily dominate a lawyer’s outlook. It is also a great way to ensure that self-care is a normal and ordinary part of your life, and in having this outlet will help to insulate you against the ever-present threat of burn-out. ‘Switching-off’ is much harder than people think, especially for a top performer, but switching tasks and to one that gives you real joy, is a lot more achievable and with a huge benefit.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might see this. :-)

Well, in that case, let’s swing for the fences! I think it would be a blast to sit down with Elon Musk. I appreciate that he speaks his mind, even if it’s unpopular or contrary to his own financial interests. That kind of transparency is rare, and I’d love to sit down with the guy for an hour or so, and just pick his brain. Probably won’t ever happen, but there you go!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!