Sources of leverage

I attempt to explain the underlying factors that enable lawyers to have a bigger impact while working the same amount

Some of you may have heard Naval Ravikant’s idea about 4 types of leverage: capital, code, labor, & media. Essentially he describes the way you can create immense impact without necessarily increasing the amount of time or energy you spend on a particular activity. I first came across Ravikant’s writing years ago and found it incredibly eye opening.

Today, I’d like to expand upon his ideas and talk more specifically about how they apply to the legal industry—and specifically, to practicing lawyers. We’ve always heard about how Biglaw partners use leverage, ie. associates, to generate vast amounts of wealth. That certainly is one way to do it.

But a lawyer’s job—whether or not they work at a firm—provides many other opportunities to use other types of leverage to have a huge impact. In this article I’m going to share the 3 main types of leverage; describe a few classic examples of lawyers using that kind of leverage; and explain the rising importance of skill & judgment. I will draw upon examples from what I’ve seen and observed during my own career.

Before I get into it, I think it’s important to highlight that you don’t have to use leverage to have an impact. Many lawyers take a craftsman/artisan approach to the work and serve their clients extraordinarily well. The goal with this article, and my discussion of leverage, is to share how to use your limited time/energy to have the biggest impact possible.

Astute readers will also recognize that having a larger impact also often translates to more autonomy and compensation. Again, that may not necessarily be what all lawyers optimize for in their careers—and that’s ok.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s talk about the first source of leverage.