Confessions of a Junior Associate:
Ten Lessons Law School Didn't Teach Me!
By E. Crystal Lopez, Esq.
What did I learn in law school? Mostly, how to take law school exams. That is, how to read a fact pattern, spot as many issues as possible, and write frantically about how those issues would be resolved based on the legal theories the particular professor had covered over the semester, all over the course of four hours, without consulting any horn books, Westlaw, or Google. Then, click submit and forget about the exam for at least two months until a grade appeared on my transcript. There was no opportunity to give significant thought to the organization of the written product, to proofread or revise the writing to make it more effective, or to receive feedback from a more experienced lawyer. The overwhelming majority of professors did not comment on exams and, fearing that they would be harassed by students seeking to change their grade, many had a policy against discussing final exams during office hours. For most students, the process I have just described repeats itself an average of 24 times during law school (i.e., an average of four classes per semester for six semesters). Useful in practice? Not so much.
How many times throughout law school does a student draft a letter, memo, or brief that involves consulting the rules of civil or criminal practice, legal research, writing persuasively, and working with colleagues on multiple revisions? It depends on the law school and the student's particular course load, but definitely not 24 different times. Most schools require students to enroll in a semester-long legal writing course and perhaps another course requiring a major legal writing assignment. But even then, typically the assignments are done individually and do not involve consulting the state or federal court rules. Unless a student enrolls in a motion practice course, signs up for an externship, or joins a clinic, she will finish law school without ever having to work on a team or pay attention to the practical rules that are the nuts and bolts of the practice of law.
In the spirit of teamwork and making the transition from law school to practice a little smoother for any law student reading this article, the following are ten lessons I learned during my first year as an associate in a major international law firm:
1. Clearly Identify All the Parties to the Litigation
Unlike in law school, the fact patterns you encounter in practice will likely involve more than one party and the names of the parties will not always begin with a "P" or "D" to identify the plaintiff and defendant. One of my first assignments as a first-year associate involved several plaintiffs, counter-defendants, defendants, counter-claimants, and third parties. The partner on the case represented a third party that had received a subpoena duces tecum from one of the defendants. My task was to write a letter objecting to the subpoena. I outlined the letter, spent several hours on legal research, and drafted and revised it multiple times before submitting a draft to the partner on the case. The letter was well received and needless to say, I was pleased. But not for long. Two days after mailing the letter, a response arrived from counsel for the counter-defendants. I had sent the letter to the wrong party! Fortunately, the delay in getting the letter to the correct party did not automatically waive our objections and we were able to send the letter to counsel for the defendants with a note explaining the oversight. The moral to the story: always make sure you identify all the parties in the litigation and understand who represents whom.
2. Learn to Count
I remember studying for the bar exam and wondering whether it was relevant or important, for purposes other than the bar exam, to memorize the number of days a party has to answer a complaint or to reply to a particular motion. It turns out there was a purpose to the madness. As a junior associate, it is your job to make sure deadlines for responses are on the partner's calendar. While most large law firms have docketing departments that calculate deadlines based on the date of service, those calculations are not always a safe bet. Do not blindly rely on docketing. You are more likely to avoid a mistake if you count the days yourself and use docketing to corroborate your work. If the deadline you calculate does not match the docketing deadline, inquire about the docketing method used to calculate the dates. Deadlines are critical in the legal profession. Missed deadlines are grounds for a court to refuse to accept your papers. Even worse, opposing counsel will make certain your delay is included in the record.
3. Become a Discovery Guru
Very few law students ever see a set of interrogatories, requests for discovery, or any type of discovery motion during law school. Yet, most first-year associate assignments, and a significant part of the life of a complex case, concern discovery issues. So it is worthwhile to spend some time reading and understanding discovery documents. I also recommend becoming familiar with e-discovery issues, which you will inevitably have to deal with in this day and age. A comprehensive website that a partner recommended to me is: http://www.ediscoverylaw.com/
4. Learn How to Manage Unpredictability
The typical law school student has virtually absolute control of her schedule. Law school students often have the luxury of focusing on one assignment at a time, as opposed to sitting at a desk receiving phone calls and responding to email messages while trying to concentrate on writing a memorandum or brief. Thus, one of the most challenging transitions from law school to the workplace is adjusting to a schedule that is often at the mercy of the partners in your office, your colleagues, clients, and other external and often unforeseeable events. Try to develop coping mechanisms to help you embrace and manage spontaneity and unpredictability. One helpful tip I received from a partner is to finish (or at least get close to finalizing) assignments one day before they are due. If you procrastinate on the assignment until the day it is due, you may be pulled in other directions and will likely miss the deadline.
5. Treat Emails Like Work Product
In law school, email is an informal way to keep in touch with friends. In the workplace, each email, especially emails sent externally, should be treated as legal memoranda. Remember the digital age adage: do not write anything that you would not want to see on "Above The Law." Take a minute to stop and read over the email you just drafted before hitting the send button.
6. Learn When to Be a Bully
I recently wrote a demand letter for a client seeking repayment for a large sum owed to her. The letter recited the facts and demanded repayment, but it was missing an important persuasive element. The partner I was working with indicated that a demand letter must sound and look like it means business. Lesson learned: do not be afraid to use CAPITAL LETTERS and bold in order to get a point across. Note, however, that this technique should not be overused when writing to the court.
7. Be a Team Player
Aside from participating in moot court or a clinic, law school does not involve or promote teamwork. Yet lawyers, paralegals, and staff can and should help each other. Working as a team is more fun than working alone, saves time, reduces the stress, and creates a safety
net in case one of the team players is unable to work or makes a mistake. Some of my fondest memories over the past year involve team meetings and working with colleagues on a filing. It helps to have colleagues like mine, who have a great sense of humor, are willing to answer questions, and share their insight with the new kid on the block.
8. Manage Expectations
Being a lawyer does not mean being bionic. Not even the most efficient lawyer can do two intellectually intensive tasks at the same time. Thus, when you have two equally pressing assignments, communicate with whomever assigned each one. In my experience, colleagues will understand that you cannot do both assignments at the same time and they will appreciate your letting them know what your workload is and when they can expect you to finish the task they have assigned to you. If you do not keep them apprised of your workload, they might be expecting a quicker turnaround than what you can provide and you may appear to be unreliable.
9. Dress the Part
Most law school students become accustomed to dressing casually; the student wearing dress pants or a blazer to class is an oddity. In fact, finals time seemed to be code for slumber party at the law school. We all know that most firms enforce a business or (if you are lucky) business casual dress code, but some of us choose not to follow it. Some argue that they are more productive when dressed in comfortable clothes. While that may be true, the lesson I have learned is that senior lawyers and staff-will respect you for dressing your best. If you choose not to, you can expect a comment (even if indirect) from a partner on your wardrobe choices. Why risk it?
10. Network for Fun
Although the value of networking does not necessarily become apparent until you are a more senior associate (who is trying to bring in business in order to have a chance at becoming a partner), it is important to start early. Developing strong relationships takes time. Networking may not come easily to everyone, but there are ways to make it fun. For example, by joining organizations that you are genuinely interested in, you are more likely to meet members with whom you genuinely enjoy spending time.
All in all, the transition from law school to law firm is not always smooth or easy, but by using all of the resources available to you—from actually listening to what your secretary and the paralegals tell you, to paying attention to the old war stories everyone loves to tell—will help make you a successful junior associate.
E. Crystal Lopez, Esq. published this article, “Confessions of a Junior Associate: Ten Lessons Law School Didn’t Teach Me!” in the Summer 2011 issue of @Law magazine. She is a second-year associate with DLA Piper LLP (US) resident in the Phoenix, Arizona office. Crystal is admitted to practice in New York and recently passed the Arizona state bar examination. Her admission into the Arizona Bar is pending.