Frank Ramos recently shared something that caught my attention: "Show up early. Stay Late. Be Ready." He followed it with another line that hits even harder when you are new: "Reliability beats brilliance when you’re starting out. People trust the lawyer who’s always prepared."

That short, direct framing is why his post works. It is not abstract motivation. It is operational advice you can use on Monday morning.

Below, I want to stay in conversation with what Frank Ramos laid out. I am going to expand each rule into the day-to-day behaviors that make those sentences real in a law firm, in court, and with clients. If you are a young lawyer (or mentoring one), treat this as a checklist for building trust early and keeping it.

1) Show up early. Stay late. Be ready.

Frank Ramos’s first point is not about martyrdom. It is about creating a reputation for readiness.

In practice, "be ready" means you read the file before the partner asks. You know the procedural posture without scrolling. You bring a proposed outline, not a blank page. When someone says, "Can you handle the hearing?" you can answer with specifics: what the issue is, what the standard is, what the judge usually does, and what the next step should be.

Key insight: Reliability beats brilliance when you are starting out because reliability is visible every day.

2) Your reputation is built in inches - and lost in inches.

Frank Ramos points out that reputations are not usually won or lost in one dramatic moment. They are built by hundreds of small signals.

The "inches" look like: a clean email subject line, a deadline met without reminders, a call returned the same day, a calendar invite that includes dial-in details, a draft that uses track changes correctly, a cite-check that catches the one case that is no longer good law.

If you want a simple rule: act like every small deliverable is a deposition exhibit. Someone may pull it out later.

3) Nobody owes you anything. Earn it.

When Frank Ramos says, "Nobody owes you anything. Earn it," I hear a reminder that entitlement is loud, and effort is louder.

Earning it does not mean saying yes to everything forever. It means being the person who can be trusted with the next thing. Volunteer for the uncomfortable assignment. Offer to take first crack at the motion. Ask to attend the mediation and then send a short recap afterward that captures what matters.

Effort plus humility is a force multiplier. People promote lawyers who make the team’s work easier.

4) Be the calm one in the room.

Frank Ramos notes that clients, partners, and judges remember who lowers the temperature.

This is a courtroom skill and a conference room skill. When an email thread turns sharp, respond with clarity and options, not heat. When opposing counsel bluffs, do not mirror their intensity. When a client panics, translate the situation into choices: what happens next, what you recommend, and what you need from them.

Calm is not passivity. Calm is control.

Key insight: Being calm signals competence because it suggests you have seen problems before and know the path through them.

5) If you don’t control your time, someone else will.

Frank Ramos’s time point is the one most young lawyers learn the hard way.

Start by treating your calendar like a professional tool, not a personal note. Block deep-work time for writing. Build buffers before hearings and deadlines. Confirm priorities in writing when you have multiple supervising attorneys. If you are unsure what to do first, ask early, not at 6:30 p.m.

A practical habit: at the start of each day, identify the one deliverable that, if completed, reduces the most risk. Do that before you get pulled into low-value urgency.

6) Write like a human, not a law review.

Frank Ramos’s rule about writing is a gift to anyone who has ever edited a painful draft.

Clear writing is client service and judge service. Use short sentences. Use headings that tell the reader what comes next. Put your conclusion up front. Use fewer block quotes and more synthesis. And stop hiding behind "hereinafter" and "aforementioned" when plain English does the job.

A good test: if you read the paragraph out loud and it sounds like a person would never say it, rewrite it.

7) Ask questions - just not the same one twice.

Frank Ramos is making a point about curiosity and craftsmanship.

Ask questions early and with context: "I reviewed the order and the local rules. It looks like we need a motion to extend with a declaration. Do you prefer we request 14 days or 21?" That shows you did work before you asked.

Then build your own system so you do not repeat avoidable confusion. Keep a running "how we do it here" document: filing preferences, formatting rules, partner style notes, common objections, settlement authority steps. The point is not to be perfect. The point is to learn once and apply many times.

8) Your file is your resume.

Frank Ramos writes, "Your file is your resume," and I love that framing because it makes the invisible visible.

Most people will not see your intent. They will see your work product and how it holds up under pressure. Treat every matter like training for the next level: organize the record, memorialize calls, update the case chronology, and make sure your future self can understand the file in 30 minutes.

Even small tasks matter. A well-done set of discovery responses teaches you strategy, tone, and risk. A clean summary judgment appendix teaches you rigor. Over time, those skills compound.

9) Be easy to work with. It’s a superpower.

Frank Ramos calls this a superpower, and it really is.

Being easy to work with is not about being agreeable to the point of losing your voice. It is about being dependable, responsive, and solutions-oriented. It looks like:

If you spot a problem, you propose a fix.
If you disagree, you do it respectfully and with reasons.
If you make a mistake, you flag it quickly and help repair it.
If someone gives feedback, you apply it and do not make them repeat themselves.

In a profession built on teamwork under deadlines, this trait keeps doors open.

10) This is a marathon, not a verdict.

Frank Ramos closes with perspective: "This is a marathon, not a verdict." That is career-saving advice.

You will have a rough hearing. You will miss an issue you "should" have caught. You will get an edit that bleeds red. None of that is terminal unless you stop learning.

The long game is: show up consistently, keep improving, protect your reputation, and stay mentally steady. Careers are built by accumulation, not by one perfect quarter.

Why this format became shareable (and how to use it)

Since we all live in the world of LinkedIn content, it is worth noticing what Frank Ramos did structurally. He delivered career advice as ten short rules, each with a punchy headline and a plain-English explanation. That is content strategy you can borrow: make it scannable, specific, and usable.

If you want to write your own "rules" post, focus on:

One audience (young lawyers, associates, trial teams)
One promise (practical, day-one behaviors)
One sentence per rule that readers can remember

That is how you turn experience into something other people can apply.

This blog post expands on a viral LinkedIn post by Frank Ramos, Best Lawyers - Lawyer of the Year - Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants - Miami - 2025 and Product Liability Defense - Miami - 2020, 2023 🔹 Trial Lawyer 🔹 Commercial 🔹 Products 🔹 Catastrophic Personal Injury🔹AI. View the original LinkedIn post →