The legal profession is demanding, with most lawyers exceeding the 40-48 hours per week standard set for other occupations. However, being intentional about stepping away from lawyering and resting is crucial for your physical and mental health.

On the one hand, your downtime can include passive rest, whereby you sleep or relax to overcome physical and mental fatigue. However, our focus today is on active rest or exploring the restorative power of pursuing hobbies, passion projects, or interests outside lawyering.

While the law may be your first love, you are multi-faceted. Moreover, besides facilitating holistic living, you can harness your interests to nurture specific lawyering skills and propel your legal career forward. 

So, today, we highlight Brian Mwirigi, alias Kalasinga on X (formerly Twitter), a Kenyan advocate who has found unexpected success in leaning into his interest in cars. Discover how Brian’s love for cars opened avenues for him outside the legal arena. Moreover, explore how hobbies and interests can make you a better lawyer and how to choose hobbies that complement the legal profession.

Brian Mwirigi Mbabu: Litigation Lawyer and Car Enthusiast

Brian Mwirigi is a young litigation associate at a busy law firm, and so he has a busy schedule that entails representing organizations, primarily banks, in various matters. However, when he steps out of the office, he emerges as his X(Twitter) alias, Kalasinga, the renowned fast car enthusiast. 

According to Brian, his interest in cars began during his primary school years with the modified matatus in Nairobi’s Kahawa West. He thought they looked magnificent, and he drew them for fun.

Later, a change in environment while at secondary school exposed him to nicer personal cars. “I started seeing very nice cars, and I liked what I was seeing. Soon, I started drawing them, too. I was intrigued whenever I saw cars like the Subarus passing by.”

Brian’s interest in cars grew from drawing them to watching TV shows on how cars work, like “Top Gear,” hosted by Richard Hammond. He built on the technical knowledge gained from such shows by researching the outstanding features of the most popular car brands in the Kenyan market. Brian’s knowledge of cars grew to the point where his parents sought his advice while purchasing their first car, yet he was still in high school.

Besides TV shows, Brian furthered his love for cars by joining car enthusiasts’ groups and forums on Kenya’s social media space. He started tweeting his opinions on cars and gained a following that morphed him into a thought leader in the Kenyan car enthusiasts’ scene; Kalasinga has over 99,000 followers on Twitter. 

Brian is modest and does not consider himself a car influencer; “I am not too active in the content creation space. I just give my views and opinions about cars mostly on Twitter and get people who are interested in knowing how I do it. That’s perhaps why my following keeps growing.” 

Nevertheless, household brands in Kenya’s automotive industry willingly pay for his opinions and views. Kalasinga was also nominated as the Twitter Influencer of the Year for 2023’s Pulse Live Awards. 

So, how has Kalasinga helped Brian Mbabu’s legal career?

First, his alias, Kalasinga, has elevated his personal brand within and outside the legal fraternity. For one, the pseudonym Kalasinga is a conversation starter, and most people who meet Brian are curious about why he chose it, yet he’s not a Sikh. Brian has gained clients from this simple conversation.

Second, he has built notable networks within and outside the legal arena. Some of his networks have translated into product endorsement campaigns for various products within the automotive industry.

How Can Amateur Interests Help You Become a Better Lawyer? 

Brian’s story is an aspirational one. However, besides the overt success he achieved from pursuing his interest in cars, below are lawyering skills you can sharpen by taking up hobbies or pursuing interests outside the legal arena.

• Soft Skills

The legal profession is heavy on human interaction. Moreover, it entails handling people of diverse backgrounds and emotional states. Therefore, engaging in amateur interests that nurture soft skills like communication, empathy, collaboration, and negotiation primes you for legal success.

In Brian’s example, attending motor vehicle events helped him grow his network. Other community-centric interests like Rotary memberships, book clubs, outdoor activity memberships, and other affiliations help strengthen interpersonal skills while you’re off the clock.

• Research Skills

Research is inextricable from the legal profession. Therefore, consider pursuing hobbies, passions, and interests that sharpen legal competencies, such as developing research plans and identifying authoritative information sources. The latter is particularly helpful in upcoming niche areas that may lack sufficient information within existing legal databases. 

• Observation skills

Observation skills/ attention to detail help you understand nuances, make connections, discern patterns, and anticipate strategic moves when building a case. Therefore, pursuing hobbies like fictional reading and strategy games like chess helps you become a better lawyer.

• Time-management skills

Work-life balance is an elusive phenomenon within and outside the legal profession. However, pursuing amateur interests helps you prioritize and make time for things within and outside work. For Brian, prioritizing his Twitter content and making time for auto events helps him make the best of both worlds (work and play).

• Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the cornerstone of mental health and wellness. Moreover, it improves self-reflection, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence; these help build interpersonal and leadership skills. Therefore, consider taking up mindfulness options like yoga and journaling.

A Lawyer’s Guide to Choosing Amateur Interests/Hobbies

If you have yet to settle on a hobby or figure out a passion, don’t worry; it’s not too late. For instance, Helene Namisi, Chair of LSK Nairobi Branch, is a music enthusiast who learned to play the double bass much later in life and relishes the experience. You can catch Helene Namisi’s legal journey on Episode #12 of the Winning at Law podcast.

So, below are tips to help you choose hobbies that will elevate your legal skills.

• Choose an Activity You Enjoy

Hobbies, interests, and passions are meant to be enjoyed, not endured. Therefore, choose an activity you love; otherwise, it becomes a chore, and you’ll struggle to commit to it. According to Helene Namisi, your happiness counts as a return on investment in an amateur interest. At the very least, a hobby you enjoy improves your mood.

• Evaluate The Amount of Time You Intend to Invest in a Hobby

Hobbies have varying time commitments; therefore, consider choosing a hobby or pursuing an interest you can easily fit into a schedule.  

• Consider the Skills You Want to Hone by Engaging in a Hobby

Different hobbies enhance different law-centric skills. Therefore, consider taking up a hobby or exploring interests and passions that align with your target area of growth. For example, you can take up chess if you want to become a better strategist.

• Consider the Financial Investment 

Besides the time, investment hobbies demand resources like equipment, subscription fees, and other expenses. Therefore, consider activities that fit within your budget.

Long weekends like this easter holiday offer a fantastic opportunity to rest and explore interests outside the office. Therefore, consider the guidelines above to identify your passions, take steps towards expanding your horizons, living a holistic life, and sharpening your lawyer skills.