Social Relationships to Achieve Success in a Law Firm ...



From PLI’s Course Handbook

Beyond Diversity 101: Navigating New Opportunities

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12

FIRST three things an associate

should do upon arrival at a

law firm to get acclimated

Binta Niambi Brown

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

First Three Things an Associate Should Do Upon Arrival at a Law Firm to Get Acclimated

Binta Niambi Brown

I. Accept that you know nothing.

Practicing law will be unlike anything you have ever done previously. Accept that you know nothing and then do something about it.

• Ask Questions. Do not be afraid to ask for help or guidance. Avoid falling into the habit of not asking questions out of fear that you will not look intelligent.

• Be a Non-Stop Student. You will learn a lot by doing and by observing. You will mostly learn, however, by reading as much in your area as you can. The more you read, the more confident you will be when talking to partners and providing advice to clients.

In addition to reading, watch training videos. Immediately upon arrival at your firm, find out whether your firm has a library of past training videos and the schedule for future training sessions relevant to your practice. If so, watch them--this is a terrific way to pass time while waiting for your first assignment. If not….keep reading.

• Seek to Understand Assignments. Avoid leaving a partner’s or senior lawyer’s office without fully understanding the assignment. This may not always be possible: a partner may be abrupt or incapable of clarity. In that case, you should quickly find an associate, preferably one who has worked for that partner in the past, and ask them to help you understand your assignment. Do not start an assignment until you have a basic understanding of the assignment and what you are supposed to do.

• Accept Assignments. No assignment is beneath you. The only way to develop a sense of how a deal works or a case proceeds is by starting with the most basic assignments. If you do that well, you will end up with more responsibility quickly.

• Be Honest About What You Do Not Know. First year associates should not bluff--you do not have enough experience and you will probably bluff wrong. In addition, a partner will always know when you are bluffing. Its best to admit that you do not know and then go learn, or ask. Bluffing will lead to bigger problems.

• Be Honest About Mistakes. Lawyers make mistakes. It’s a simple fact. Its much better to accept this and be honest, than it is to attempt to cover up a mistake. Of course accepting mistakes does not mean repeating them….

II. Forget that you are “Only a First Year”

First-year associates often think there is little they can contribute because they lack experience. You need to forget that you are “only a first year.” Otherwise you will expect little of yourself and others will expect less of you. It is better to raise the bar for yourself, to adopt a strong work ethic from the beginning and become fully involved in the life of your firm.

• Own Your Work:

o Take initiative.

o Develop an understanding of more than just your part of the assignment: figure out how your part of the assignment fits within the whole and how others will be using your work.

o Be detail oriented: make it your responsibility to know every single detail, both administrative and substantive regarding your matter.

o Be dedicated: be vigilant in checking your messages and responding quickly.

o Follow your assignment through from beginning to end: i.e., do not leave the office until you receive confirmation that the fax went through, or the intended recipient received the email.

o Develop high quality skills: research, writing and communication.

o Hand in perfect work: avoid turning in drafts with typos, grammatical errors and other easy-to-avoid/easy-to-catch errors.

• Be Confident. You will not get very far as an attorney if you lack confidence. Early on you can build your confidence by thoroughly preparing yourself. You prepare by doing as much background reading as possible (including the reading of precedents), talking to other associates and studying your assignment inside out. Learn to anticipate the types of questions partners and clients will ask. Avoid taking constructive criticism (or any other type of criticism) personally. Learn from every experience without letting your self-esteem take a beating. Do not engage in self-doubt. The firm hired you because it believes in your potential to become a great lawyer.

• Don’t Act as if Little is Expected From You. Disregard those senior attorneys who will tell you that little is expected of you and that therefore there is little that you can contribute. Raise the bar for yourself and others will do the same.

• Avoid Making Excuses. Making excuses is a surefire way to alienate partners and other lawyers at the firm. Mistakes made by secretaries and other support staff on your work are your mistakes--do not blame others for late assignments, typographical errors, etc. Avoid blaming “unfairness” in the system. Avoid using the “first-year excuse”--i.e., “I’m just a first-year, how could I be expected to know.” Instead, take responsibility for your mistakes, including mistakes made by secretaries and legal assistants. Do your best to ensure that these types of mistakes do not occur again.

• Do Not Give Up. As a junior lawyer and even as a more experienced associate, you will likely make many mistakes and will have to endure grueling hours and temperaments. If you enjoy legal practice, don’t quit, keep trying,

• Remember Who You Are. Don’t forget what you are made of. Avoid judging yourself by what others are or are not doing. Know what your goals are and go for it.

• Develop an Understanding of How Your Firm Works. Get involved, be part of firm life. Participate in firm-wide pro bono projects, recruiting and on firm committees. Show that you view yourself as more than just an employee of the firm.

III. Establish Meaningful Relationships.

Make an effort to get to know the partners and the other associates in your practice area right away. People will be your most important resource at the outset of your career and without these relationships, adjusting to law firm life will be much more difficult. For example, other associates will help you to figure out basic items, such as how to complete your diaries, or what tasks to give your secretary. Talking with other lawyers at the firm will help you to develop good judgment, which is a crucial quality of good lawyers.

You should make an effort upon arriving at the firm to find and get to know senior associates who are hard working and enjoy what they do. These will be the best people to talk to when you need advice.

Social Relationships to Achieve Success in a Law Firm Environment

Binta Niambi Brown

Whether or not you are successful at your law firm will mostly be a function of the quality of work you do and how well you serve your clients. Note however, that your potential success will be more than a function of the quality of your work and client service. Your success is also a function of the quality of relationships you build. Accordingly, this outline sets forth the types of relationships you should seek to establish in a law firm setting.

I. Support/Administrative Staff

A. Introduction: It is not uncommon for junior associates (and for that matter associates with more experience) to overlook the importance of establishing quality relationships with support/administrative staff. The quality of your relationships with these individuals can make or break you. Typically, the folks who comprise the support staff know substantially more than you do about the firm, the way it operates and certainly about their jobs than you know about yours. A common mistake among junior associates is that they fail to realize that these folks are professionals and ought to be treated…professionally.

The support staff can help you succeed if you treat them well. If you don’t, they will most certainly get in your way.

B. Support/Administrative Staff Typically Include:

1. Secretaries

2. Legal Assistants/Paralegals

3. Library

4. Records/Managing Clerk

5. Information Technology

6. Messengers

7. Document Processing

8. Duplicating

9. Human Resources/Legal Personnel

10. Fax Department

11. Depending on the size of your firm, there may be additional or less support staff.

You should think of each of these people as members of your team along with the client, partner and other lawyers assigned to your matter.

C. Potential Consequence of a Bad Relationship: If a person on your team resents you as a result of the way you are treating them, you can almost always count on poor work product and bad service. Staff will work for you reluctantly and other attorneys may avoid working with you.

D. Potential Consequence of a Good Relationship: When you develop relationships based on trust and respect, you will find that people will do more than just their jobs….they will absolutely go out of their way for you.

E. How to Develop a Good Relationship with Staff:

1. Treat each person with respect and courtesy;

2. Acknowledge contributions;

3. Clearly articulate your expectations with regards to assignments;

4. Avoid yelling and visible impatience;

5. Avoid giving staff personal, non-firm work; and

6. Be professional.

II. Other Associates

A. Introduction: Do not overlook the value of developing good relationships with other associates. Fellow associates (of all levels) can:

1. Help you with assignments;

2. Provide precedents and useful past memoranda;

3. Listen to your ideas, before you go and talk with a partner or senior associate;

4. Provide information about specific partners and practice areas; and

5. Provide useful information about the firm.

B. How to Develop Good Relationships with other Associates: There is no secret formula to developing a good relationship with your fellow associates. Some of the things you can do, however, include:

1. Be you;

2. Be cooperative, be helpful; and

3. Participate in social gatherings, if and when work allows.

III. Partners

A. Introduction: It is obvious as to why you would want to build a relationship with a partner--you just won’t get that far at your firm without their trust and respect . Less obvious, is how one goes about building a good relationship, of generating trust, confidence and good will.

B. How to Develop Good Relationships with Partners:

1. Always do outstanding work;

2. Be helpful;

3. Be genuine;

4. Be honest--never pretend to know more than you do or to understand something that you do not understand--avoid bluffing;

5. Allow the partner to get to know you individually; and

6. Be accountable and reliable--your job as an associate is to make the partners’ jobs easier and our clients lives better.

C. What Not To Do:

1. Avoid brown nosing;

2. Do not waste time trying to figure out which partners are important and which partners are not; and

3. Do not become known as the “annoying” associate.

IV. Clients

A. Introduction: As junior associates, it is important to keep in mind that if a partner does not believe he or she can trust you with his or her clients, you will not progress. It is never too early to show that you are capable of serving clients well. Of course, the type and quantity of service that you may provide as a junior associate will be different than that of a more senior associate. Nonetheless, you should always seek to serve your clients well.

B. How to Develop Good Relationships with Clients

Developing a good relationship with your clients is similar to developing a good relationship with partners. There are some additional things to keep in mind.

1. Be responsive-- return phone calls and when you do not know the answer let the client know that you will get them an answer soon….then, figure out the answer;

2. Meet deadlines--do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it; and

3. Be confident--clients will not trust you and therefore will be less likely to call you, if you do not project confidence. Be wary of projecting false confidence, this is transparent and will also result in clients calling someone else.

V. People Outside the Firm

A. Introduction: Many new associates overlook the benefit of developing relationships with professionals outside the firm. Among the reasons for this are: lack of time, no perceived value in developing other relationships. Time will likely be tight during your first year, however there is substantial value in meeting people outside your firm. Among the reasons to pursue outside relationships are:

1. You may have trouble finding a mentor inside your firm;

2. Learning--the more people you know and have to talk to, the more you will learn;

3. To generate contacts; and

4. It will become difficult to pursue these relationships later on if you don’t start early.

B. It is fairly simple to develop professional relationships outside the firm. You can:

1. Join a committee of your local bar association, (i.e. Association of the Bar of the City of New York);

2. Attend lectures hosted by your local bar association that interest you;

3. Participate in pro bono and public service projects;

4. Volunteer; and

5. Participate in philanthropic activities.

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