Fresh out of law school with oodles of textbook knowledge, first-year law associates are in for a surprise: Law practice is not law school. They've had little preparation for the unique, demanding, high-stakes environment of law firms.

Like Virgil in tassled loafers, in Your Billable Life,Bruce Dravis serves as guide to the paradise, purgatory, and inferno of first-year associate life. He explains issues that are important to clients, senior associates, partners--and the firm's malpractice insurance carrier. Dravis also lists key mistakes to avoid, such as the angry email, the letter to the wrong address, the closing document without signatures. And with tongue firmly in cheek, he offers some basic rules for law-firm newbies such as when to say "no" to an assignment [never] and who you are smarter than [nobody, initially].

No matter how trying some days may seem, Your Billable Life shows that is possible to go from new attorney to seasoned professional.