Summer Associate Advice Reprised

We are at the mid-point in the summer where summer associates and interns have been around long enough to start to feel comfortable.  DON’T!  Last week my intern showed me “what happens when you Google ‘hobag’” on her computer…I think we need to revisit Associates – Don’t “Just Be Yourself” where Jocelyn reminded summers that their positions are summer long interviews where they are being scrutinized and need to keep their guard up. 

Above the Law also recently posted a memo from NYU career services to law students about How Not to Succeed as a Summer Asssociate.  The memo informs students:

• Your reputation is your most valuable commodity
• Be a team player
• Resist the tone of entitlement
• Maintain a positive attitude
• Attend firm social events regularly
• Be careful about confiding in work colleagues
• Maintain client confidentiality
• Be consistently courteous to support staff

It also offers approaches to assignments; feedback/evaluations and mentors; office protocol and what to do if you do not receive an offer.  The memo cites the following “Real World Examples of Career Limiting Behavior”:

A. Unimpressed with the quality of the wine being served at the summer welcome dinner, summer associate orders a special bottle of wine. To make matters worse, summer associate charges the wine to the firm.
B. Summer associate complains about having a windowless office and then claims to have been “promised” a window during the interview process.
C. Summer associate is criticized for filing motion without attachments . . . summer associate blames the secretary.
D. Summer associate shows up at all firm events involving food, and is so busy eating that they fail to socialize with anyone else.
E. Summer associate makes typographical errors in memoranda.
F. Summer associate paints their toenails in the office, assuming 10 p.m. is “her own time”.
G. Summer associate refuses to work past 7:00 p.m. or on weekends.
H. Summer associate sleeps 12 hours a day during the firm’s three-day sailing trip.
I. Summer associate fails to Shepardize.
J. Summer associate yells at support staff.
K. Summer associate misses a deadline.
L. Summer associate makes up citation to support the position he/she is trying to prove in a brief filed with the court (resulting in immediate termination and letter to Board of Professional Responsibility).
M. Wishing to play on the firm’s ice hockey team, summer associate loudly and persistently discusses their skill as a high school hockey player and claims that he would easily be the best player on the ice. The senior associate who organizes the team is a former NHL player.
N. Summer associate decides to give client legal advice without the express permission of supervising attorney.
O. Summer associate refuses to make edits to a draft brief because “I was an English major in college and I know your edits are incorrect.”
P. Summer associate engages in public display of affection with co-clerk in library.
Q. Summer associate turns in a research project that did not answer the question assigned.
R. Summer associate throws up after a firm cocktail party as a result of excess consumption of alcohol.
S. Summer associate visits Internet porn sites at the office.
T. Summer associate forwards a sexist joke to several attorneys at the firm.
U. Summer associate has loud, crass personal conversations regularly from office phone.
V. Summer associate plagiarizes paragraph in memorandum from hornbook.
W. Summer associate is not available to stay late to assist in closing in order to have drinks as planned with other summer associates.
X. Summer associate falls asleep at negotiation session in conference room.
Y. Summer associate removes several attorneys’ phones for an afternoon as a practical joke.
Z. Summer associate takes a significant amount of office supplies (including 10-12 notebooks) home for personal use.
AA. Summer associate organizes summer associate outing to strip club and bills firm.
BB. Summer associate plucks flowers from flowerpot in firm’s lobby.
CC. Summer associate asks printer to create 500 copies of bound document instead of 50 after mishearing directions from partner.
DD. Summer associate trash talks an associate in public area in law firm.
EE. Summer associate berates female partner for her lack of skill at firm softball event.
FF. Summer associate tells a partner that the way he is trying to make a fire during a firm canoe trip is “dumb”; same summer associate, later on the canoe trip, goes skinny dipping with senior associate.
GG. Summer associate uses lunch budget for personal grooming, including a manicure/pedicure.
HH. Summer associate extends disingenuous lunch invite to attorney in order to dine at an expensive restaurant.
II. Summer associate is participating on a conference call with a partner. At 6:45 p.m., summer associate points to their watch, whispers “I have concert tickets,” and leaves the room.
JJ. Summer associate receives an e-mail from a senior associate, sent to the whole summer class, requesting a volunteer to help with an assignment. Summer associate promptly e-mails the senior associate back, informing senior associate that he is busy, but so-and-so (another summer associate) should have some time and can help out.
KK. Summer associate says to a British-trained senior associate “I don’t know where you went to law school, but in America summer associates get more sophisticated work assignments”.
LL. Summer associate proudly informs one senior associate that upon the receipt of an offer of permanent employment, she would only work with two members of the department and be the “go-to” person for them because she doesn’t really enjoy working with anyone else.

“Career Limiting Behavior” may be my new favorite term.  The full memo is long, but worth a read and worth sending to any law students - as well as some attorneys.

Associates–Don’t “Just Be Yourself”

Hey summers and first years: 

They are watching you. 

They see everything you do.  From your interactions with staff, to your drinking habits, to your attitude toward your assignments–they will be watching to see how you handle yourself.

What Law School Doesn’t Teach You But You Really Need To Know

In the middle of some crisis or another I was facing as a first year associate, I happened to glance over at my bookshelf. I noticed that a book seemed to be calling to me……hinting that help was near at hand. I had completely forgotten that I owned the book. Someone had kindly donated it to me when I was a summer associate–or maybe they felt like I needed some help.

Anyway, the book is called, “What Law School Doesn’t Teach You But You Really Need To Know.” To my genuine surprise and delight, there was an entire chapter entitled “Handling Things You Don’t Want to Handle: Mistakes, Too Much Work, Chimp Work, Ethical Issues, and Sexual Harassment.”

I had just done the unthinkable: I made a mistake. I tell you now, it was awful. I felt like my life was over. How had I ever graduated law school? Maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer after all. How could anyone ever trust me again? Other people don’t make mistakes, do they!?

So a chapter on how to handle mistakes was just what the doctor ordered (along with a sedative, perhaps, and some anti anxiety medicine).

I have stopped punishing myself for my mistake, but I will never ever forget it. Older and perhaps a little wiser, I am convinced that you learn so much from your (unfortunately inevitable) mistakes that they are a crucial part of your development as an attorney.

You too can learn from my mistake: Whether you are a summer associate, law clerk, or you are gearing up for your first year as an associate, you would be well advised to obtain a copy of this handy dandy reference guide.

As a lawyer you need to arm yourself with good information. A successful career is not a matter of luck. Instead, it depends on knowing exactly what to do and what not to do.

 

 

My Second First Year

I feel like a first year associate all over again.

I am going into my fourth year of practice. I was in my second year at my firm when Judge Bernstein asked me to clerk for him. It was the kind of opportunity I could not refuse–even though it involved a substantial pay cut. I had always wanted to clerk at the trial court level–so when the judge called me up, I knew I had to run with it.

My clerkship is now drawing to a close. Whew–this year has really flown by. Even though I do not bill time, or work twelve hour days, or come in on the weekend, this has been a very busy year. The judge keeps me on my toes, let’s just put it that way.

So, I will be starting with a new firm in September. And I have to tell you–I am pretty nervous. I think I am more nervous to start at my new firm than I was at my first firm as a first year. Why? I think it is because I know going in that I know nothing. Sure–at least I know how to write a brief, etc. etc., but I know next to nothing about the daily life in the firm. How will I fit in? What are the firm politics? How can I make sure that I hit the ground running? How can I make sure I don’t make any stupid mistakes? Is there anything else I should worry about that I haven’t even thought about yet? I am only just able to restrain myself from the plaintive query–”will they like me”?

I do know that I have to go back to billing. And I think this might be one thing I am dreading the most. I dread the prospect of working both days on a weekend, consecutive weekends in a row. I dread the burn out. And I really enjoy Thanksgiving with my family, thank you. (Oh, and here is a word of advice to first year associates–even though I know you won’t take it–if work is slow–take advantage of it. Don’t stay at work just for the sake of staying at work. You never know when you might get a breather again.)

Maybe I am just feeling pre race jitters–the kind of feeling I get right before a ten mile race, or that I used to feel before I jumped off the block for a 200 meter butterfly. I know it is going to be long and tough.

But I also know that I am going to be tougher. Maybe now is the time I need to bust out “Eye of the Tiger” and “Chariots of Fire” on my Ipod.

It is ok to be nervous (I keep telling myself). I am visualizing my performance. I am mentally preparing myself for what lies ahead. I am getting ready to give everything I have got.

Good thing I have until September.