About

Associate’s Mind is the personal blog of Keith Lee, an Alabama attorney. It is one of the  most popular tracked legal blogs in the world. Associate’s Mind has been linked to by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Above the Law, dozens of  blogs and websites, and has been featured as an Editor’s Pick at the Browser.

It is frequently featured in the national newsletter, Technolawyer, and many of its articles are syndicated to LexisNexis, where Keith is a featured contributor. Keith has also been quoted in numerous news stories and legal blogs around the web. Associate’s Mind was selected as one of the “Blawg 100″ by the ABA Journal for 2011.

Associate’s Mind provides commentary and news on professional development, law, social media, and technology – through the eyes of a new and developing lawyer.

The origin of “An Associate’s Mind”

Shoshin (初心) is a concept in Zen Buddhism meaning Beginner’s Mind. It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would. The term is especially used in the study of Zen Buddhism and Japanese martial arts.

Although frequently people speak of always thinking like a “partner” or “partner-level” thinking when in regards to how one should should conduct oneself inside a firm -  reject the notion. Just as in the mind of the master  there are few possibilities and in the Beginner’s mind, infinite – most partners have fixed ways of thinking and conducting their practice and processes.

An Associate’s Mind should be flexible and open to new ideas and processes, while being mindful of the guidance of those who have tread the road before him.