“When I was finishing college, my mother and I talked about my pursuing a law degree,” Pam Scholefield said while sitting in her San Diego law office where she practices breach-of-contract litigation and transactional work in the commercial construction industry. “But because I’d just finished five years of an intense electrical engineering program at the University of Florida, I decided that it would be better to get out into the work force.”
Still, Pam never gave up on her original idea. “If I were a lawyer,” she remembered thinking, “I could make things happen for people.” After eight years of selling electrical switch gear to contractors for General Electric, she took the LSAT and announced her intentions to leave. GE, not wanting to lose one of its top sales engineers, promoted her and moved her from Denver to San Diego. Two years later, though, she felt as if “nothing was new anymore.” Again she announced her intention to start law school; this time, GE hired her as a part-time consultant the summer before she started law school, paying her twice as much as her previous salary. When law school began, she worked for GE distributors who had once been her customers.
Her work with contractors as a GE consultant ten years ago is what led her to develop the passion for the legal work that occupies her time today. “Contractors put up with a lot of risk in their daily work, and I enjoy speaking their language’ and giving them straightforward, practical advice that directly relates to their businesses,” she said. “Recently, we started offering estimates on our legal work, just like a time and materials bid’ that they have to produce to win a job; and we can give them change orders’ when the opposing party files motions or when our original legal strategy changes. I also address a common complaint about lawyers that they are too evasive when a client wants advice on making a decision,” she continued, “and I have no problem telling clients what I would do, based on an assessment of the risks and their values.” Her client base includes developers and contractors in the construction industry from all walks of life and all cultures. “I can talk to anyone, and I truly enjoy what I do,” she said. “People notice that, including the judges, mediators, and opposing counsel.”
Stuff Happens
“I started out the hard way on my own,” Pam said. “I taught myself procedural and substantive law, took CLE classes in construction litigation and mechanics’ lien law, and mistakenly took on a partner who did not share my goals in building up the practice. I did not seek out a mentor at first, which was stupid, because mentors were available through my local bar association. I didn’t understand that mentors enjoy the process of giving something back without looking for something in return. My first law suit was sent back to me by the court because the summons was improper,” Pam said, with a laugh. She survived as a solo practitioner because she was both humble and driven, and because she accepted the advice of a friend who said she had to specialize to make it work.
Finding A Niche
Pam doesn’t mind taking an unconventional approach to her law practice, employing her husband as a technical consultant, as well as two other attorneys and a paralegal. Recently, Pam made national news in the legal community when she advertised for a “sales attorney” whose sole responsibility was to develop and evaluate new business for the firm. She also advertises her practice at construction sites using banner ads, announcing that the company’s construction contracts were drafted by her firm; and joined a chief executive organization specializing in executive and business coaching for medium and small businesses. Away from work, Pam enjoys riding her motorcycle and walking Doberman rescue dogs four times a week.
Defining Success
“Success is fairly simple,” Pam said. “It has two components: liking what you do, and achieving your financial goals while doing it.” She said that attorneys must discover their specific passion for being a lawyer, and then move confidently in that direction. Pam advises young attorneys to seek out mentors as soon as they begin their careers, and explains that professionals need to look at their core values before launching into a career of service. Good values, to her, are those from which “you benefit and others do too,” and rotten values are those from which “only you benefit.” She also advises that “a young attorney should be humble, look at no job as too menial, and treat everyone from the courthouse judge to the janitor with the utmost respect. That’s good training for life.”
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