Q&A with Sara White
Sara is in the Naples office focusing her practice on a variety of complex commercial litigation matters including business and tort litigation and dispute resolution.
What advice would you give to women just starting out at a law firm? What are some important first steps they can take to lay the groundwork for a successful career?
I think that a really important first step to laying the groundwork for a successful career would be to find a really good mentor. Whether it is someone that you work with on a daily basis or outside of work, I think it is really important in the beginning stages of your law career. I have had some great mentors at my previous jobs which I think really helped lay a good foundation on how to be successful in my career.
What is the best advice youā€™ve received about how to be a successful attorney?
I think the best advice that I’ve received is that in order to be a successful attorney it is really important to lay a good foundation and take the necessary steps to learn how to be a good practitioner and to focus on learning as much as possible in the area of law in which you decide to practice.
What are the biggest issues women lawyers face?
I think the biggest issues that women lawyers face are focused around having/starting a family while also having and developing a successful career, and being able to maintain a positive work/life balance doing both.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
Something that my husband and I are constantly telling each other is that we need to be intentional with our time and being a good time manager. I think that has really helped me to be much more mindful of what I’m spending my time doing, rather than allowing an hour of my time to go by and I can’t account for really what I’ve accomplished. This has definitely helped me in being able to keep a good work/life balance and reduce the frustration of not feeling like I have enough time in the day to get everything done.
