Tips

Helping Others and Ourselves
By: Christina Scharar, Deloitte Tax Controversy

After finishing law school, I chose a job with a large public accounting firm in its Tax Controversy department. This was a natural transition as I am also a Certified Public Accountant and had previously worked for this firm. Although I do not practice law, I face many of the same challenges with which other young attorneys struggle. This year has been particularly busy and with it comes valuable lessons. 

Help Others

We’ve all had it happen. Someone hears you are an attorney and immediately asks you a flurry of questions, generally on topics unrelated to your area of practice. I don't expect to answer these questions and I should not unless I know the answers or do the research to find out. However, I believe that as an attorney, we have a duty to help others navigate the legal system. We have access to networks and legal information to which non-attorneys generally do not. If someone comes to us with legal questions, my hope is that we all help these individuals find the resources they need. 

Recently, a colleague asked me for an attorney recommendation. Her child was about to go through a child-custody battle and was having trouble finding an attorney. For such a deeply personal matter, she was hesitant to simply pick a name from online. I do not practice in that area nor personally know any attorneys that do; however, I reached out to attorneys I know and within an hour, I had several highly recommended attorneys to pass along to my colleague. (If you don’t know an attorney in a particular practice area, you can always refer people to the State Bar Lawyer Referral & Information Service.)

Whether practicing law or not, we are all attorneys. From that fact alone, we are part of a special network, we have more resources and contacts in the legal profession than most people, and we are each in a unique position to help those around us who are not attorneys.

Help Ourselves

After law school, part of the reason I chose a job at an accounting firm was because it afforded me more flexibility than a traditional law firm position may have. However, accountants also notoriously have long hours and intense busy seasons. Despite more flexibility, it is still difficult to find time to do it all.

This year has been particularly busy for me. Due to changes at work, I've had to learn new roles and take on new responsibilities. Overall, it has been a wonderful experience, but there was a point where I got lost in my work. During this busy time, what surprised me was that the biggest challenge wasn’t the number of hours. Rather, it was finding time to work those hours while maintaining a life outside the office. I didn’t mind the long hours, but my work schedule is unpredictable and I found it stressful to make personal plans and meet personal commitments. To cope, I stopped scheduling things outside of work. I limited my plans with friends and family, passed on several alumni, professional, and volunteer events, and even pushed doctor appointments and car repairs.

It is important to note that at no point was there any encouragement or requirement from my firm that I give up these other things. In fact, my firm has a strong commitment to having a work-life balance and my boss even warned me about potentially burning out during this busy year. However, at the end of the day, the work needed to get done and it was too stressful to schedule it around personal plans, so I stopped making them. I still took some vacation time and disconnected, but my day-to-day life consisted mostly of work.

After a few months, I burnt out and knew I needed a different approach. Foregoing my personal needs was not the solution. Although, occasionally, work deadlines may impact personal commitments, those instances should be the exception. Most importantly, it is my responsibility to make my personal needs and obligations a priority and fit them in to my career.

It is still difficult sometimes to fit personal plans and commitments into my schedule during the week, but it is important. So each week, I try to prioritize to get my work done and make time for personal plans, commitments, and errands. It's a work in progress and each week is different, but I encourage you all to do the same.

Further, I think we can help each other with this. Life is busy, especially for a young attorney. That’s why I think it is even more important to make a commitment to each other: to network, to maintain connections and friendships, to help each other grow professionally, and to hold each other accountable.

The lessons I learned this year are not new. You have likely heard them before, but it is my sincere hope that sharing my experience helps others commit to find the balance so many of us strive for and to each become a better attorney.

Christina Scharar is a Senior in the Tax Controversy Services group in the Houston office of Deloitte Tax LLP. Christina assists and advises taxpayers undergoing federal tax controversy matters, including Internal Revenue Service examinations, general IRS practice and procedure issues, and penalty abatement requests.