Figuring it Out

Perhaps one of the biggest struggles of being a first year associate is figuring it out. (this applies to most jobs, but much more so in the law world). What do I mean you ask? Well, simply figuring out not only how to be a lawyer, but how to be the lawyer that gets clients, has great billable hours, and awesome success rates. As a first year, this also entails learning how to be the lawyer that the partners you work for what you to be.

As a baby lawyer you must go from knowing some basic black letter law and how to "research" to knowing how to push a case through. You have to know when you are supposed to take initiative and when to take the back seat. You struggle with, do I reply to this email, or do I sit idly by because its better left to a partner. It's the fine line between looking like you know what you are doing to, looking like you could care less: it's enough to make your head spin and you shoulders ache. And, when you factor in that for someone who works in a smaller firm, you have to learn how walk this fine line with more than one partner (I likened this to dating several people at once, can't call Bob Frank and Frank George), you can begin to understand why lawyers are stressed. It is an everyday balance of nose to the grindstone and nose somewhere else if you catch my drift.

The life of a lawyer is unlike any other job. There is no quick move up the totum pole, no fast track in most firms. The right to partner is slow and sometime monotonous, but rewarding when you make it. The key (not that I by any means have the experience to tell you the actual "key") is to stick it out, have a keen eye to details, learn who matters and what matters to each person you work for. Find a confidant, a mentor, a secretary or paralegal who you trust and glean information. Ask questions, seek advice. And bill hours ;) With that enjoy a few laughs on behalf of lawyers everywhere!