QI am a 7th year associate at a megafirm. Let me be honest, I am nowhere near as bright as the associates in adjacent offices. I haven’t been made a senior associate because I am simply not good enough. I keep my job because there are certain aspects of the job I am good at (grunt work) and I get on really well with the really junior associates and have the patience to answer all their questions and guide them through mindless document review tasks at 2am on a Monday morning.
My problem is this. There are two slightly more junior associates (5/6 years) in my group who are champing at the bit for senior associateship and they see me as a roadblock. In all probability I am. They are both very smart and very good at their jobs. I think they perceive that the partners won’t make them up without first making me up (presumably not to upset me).
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QI’m a fairly new associate at a large firm. For now I do a decent amount of motion and litigation work, which I like. I’m not a natural litigator but I find it interesting, engaging, and challenging. The problem is with a much more senior associate who cannot stop cursing, calling people names, and going out of his way to insult opposing counsel (though not to counsel personally). I’m talking pretty bad stuff, and frequently said. I’m not a prude, but I generally don’t like off-color language in the office or even at home. Should I say something to him and risk being labeled the office prude? Should I address it to a partner? I can deal with the whole macho atmosphere that pervades a lot of litigation, but the incessant cursing and bad-mouthing of others is a complete downer. Advice?
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A new Wall Street Journal article found a high number of corporate clients refusing to pay for first or second-year associate work. There were a couple of ideas thrown out as to how to solve this. One of them relating to adopting a UK-type apprenticeship program. I hate the British, and I don’t like the idea of us doing anything they do. Isn’t that why we drive on the right and put our door handles on the right? I figured I’d throw my hat in the ring with a few foolproof ways to solve this problem. Yes, I agree it’s a problem. First-year associates are almost entirely worthless, except for the attractive ones.
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QI’m a mid-level associate in a big firm, where I’ve done well. I generally have no complaints except one: I’m surrounded by brilliant and powerful people, all of whom are incredible attorneys. Two attorneys on my floor advise Fortune 100 CEOs. One attorney regularly advises Congress, another is friends with very well-connected politicians. My complaint, actually, is not much of a complaint but a realization. I am a sidekick among superheroes. While most days it does not bother me (and I genuinely enjoy the success of my peers and colleagues, and they obviously care for me and for my career), there are some nights at home over a glass of wine where I wonder: could I do more and “be more,” especially at a firm with less notable talent?
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I work for a partner who is always out of the office. Instructions come in haphazardly at all times of the day and night, and often they don’t make sense given they’re always fragmented and sent from his Blackberry while he’s “on tarmac waiting for plane to take off” or “getting out of taxi.”
I’m a second-year associate at a top-tier law firm, so I am in no position to criticize the way in which the partner runs the team or delegates work—especially when a handful of equally smart, competent people from my start year have already been shown the door. In fact, the partner knowing I existed, having occasionally emailed me “good pt.” and “you handle this so I know it gets don [sic] right” were my reassurance as to why I’ve been spared from downsizing.
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Annie, a married seventh-year associate that I work with, seems to be using Facebook as an alternate universe where she brags about imaginary exploits and engages in online affairs using a faux persona. Apparently, when it comes to having a mid-life crisis, Facebook is the new Ferrari.
Up to this point, Annie has always exhibited limitless attention-seeking behaviors, including (but not limited to) constantly sharing private details about herself. I’ve never asked her a single personal question, yet I know that she was raised in a strict Protestant evangelical family and went wild in college with cocaine and clubbing; that she briefly split from her husband and had an affair with an auto mechanic from the western suburbs (and claims he is still in love with her and that his new wife stalks her); and how much she spends every time she goes to Target. Once she (ironically) openly pouted at an associate cocktail hour because no one noticed her new Juvederm injections.
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QI work with this one partner who loves me, but he’s a total loser and not very well respected. How do I get away from him? I’m worried he’s hindering my own chances at partner. I’m a 4th year.
AIt’s like having a really hot prisoner in love with you. It’s kind of flattering, but not really. The only way out is to get work from a partner with more juice. So start networking. Let other partners know that you’re interested in working with them on any new deals/cases. But be aggressive. Stay on them. Track their projects, stick your head in their door, bump into them on purpose in the firm coffee room. The only way out of this dead-end relationship is to make a more important partner fall in love with you.
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