Shir Adel

I attribute my success to never giving up. Everyone has setbacks, but I think it's just sticking with it. That is probably the most important thing over the long term. You have to keep going even when things get difficult, and that persistence and resilience is what makes the difference in building a successful career.

The best career advice I've ever received is: if you're not a teacher, be a teacher. I use this philosophy by mentoring a lot of the younger associates at my firm. I'm not a teacher at a school, but I am kind of a teacher at my firm. I think it's just very fulfilling to mentor younger associates and help them develop, and it keeps you feeling young too. I'm working with people in their 20s and early to late 20s and 30s, and it keeps you plugged in as to what's going on. Clearly, they're way ahead of us in technology, so it's good, it's fun. I think it's a very fulfilling thing to do.

I think the industry has changed a lot. When I started, it was more male-dominated, so the advice would have been to keep a thick skin, and if there are any comments, just let it go. For young women now, there are definitely more women in the industry, so I don't think there's as much of that gender type of stereotyping as there used to be. But I would say that prioritizing wellness - just exercising and keeping and taking care of your health - is incredibly important for a long-term career, because it's a very stressful job. You have to be well as a human being in your mind and in your body to be a good lawyer. I think just prioritizing and incorporating more wellness into your routine is really important.

I think the biggest challenge right now is AI. How is AI going to impact lawyers, and how much is it going to replace what lawyers do? It's only getting smarter, and I think that's a huge challenge in many respects. For younger lawyers, if you're not doing the nuts and bolts of reviewing a document, and you're just relying on AI, are you developing your legal mind as well? Becoming a little bit too reliant on technology could be good or bad - it's a real concern for the development of legal skills and critical thinking in the profession.

I think honesty and trust, and loyalty are incredibly important. Thinking about others, as opposed to your short-term personal gains - all these things are pretty timeless values that guide both my work and personal life. It's about putting the needs of others first and maintaining integrity in everything you do.