Emailing Associates and Partners Forum

[Always Credited]

if you are doing this for a leg-up on your prospects of future employment, don't bother. if an associate isnt busy racking up billable hours and presenting face time at the office they probably have better things to do. a junior partner/counsel has more work and even less time... and i doubt you could convince a more senior partner who bills clients $700-$1100/hour to notice you.

Yes and no. If you are doing it solely for an "in" and not putting in the time necessary to develop a mentor relationship then it won't help. But if you actually develop the relationship (as I had the opportunity to do) then it will absolutely give you a huge leg up if you are dealing with a partner.

I don't think an associate would ever be able to help your future prospects.

Can you give a little more insight as to what you mean by "mentor relationship?" What all is involved in this mentor relationship that you've forged, and how did you go about establishing it?

I actually did just as OP mentioned, e-mailing law firm partners that went to my UG/LS. I used martindale and straight up spammed them. In the end I only heard back from maybe 4 out of ~12ish. And from that ended up having lunch with 3 of them. I still have an e-mail relationship with those 3 and one of them I have had lunch/dinner with him and other associates/partners at his firm maybe a half dozen times.

The first time we had lunch it was very much a "what do you do?" This was pretty genuine on my part as I had no idea what went on at big firms at the time. After that, and I did really well in school, it was spot-checking my resume, mock-interview, or just nothing but getting together and catching up. Right now he is gathering a group of lawyers at his firm that clerked and we're going to do a clerking lunch in the next few weeks as I go through the clerkship application process.

Re; handjobs. It is actually a lot like a courtship process. My fiancee calls him my lawyermatch.com partner. I don't think it is typical to get the same sort of relationship that I have. However, I will say that if you go into these networking relationships with genuine interests in getting to know them and learning about what they do, you have a good shot in developing something worthwhile.

--ImageRemoved--



but really, thanks for the candid anecdote. I plan to do something similar during my first semester.

[Renzo]

Lawyers are surprisingly willing to do this. I am 3/4 via random completely contact - looking on the website and finding someone in my practice area (2 in asia, and 2 in LA/OC). I wanted to learn more about the field i am going to, and where is a better place to ask? The answer is not the career center.

Plus, you get to practice being in a professional environment and having professional conversation.

Tip I got - be really blatant in your subject with something that will grad their attention like, i.e. (*law school name* 1L, other pertinent things). i.e. I said Boalt Hall (Berkeley Law) 1L, Ph.D. Chemistry, Patent Agent. Seems a bit harsh imo, but it worked for me.

Agreed. In my experience, if they skim your email and it sounds like you're asking them for a job, it's going in the trash. You need to be clear about what you expect from them.

[SBimmer]

By the way. The partner that I ended up forming a great relationship with is the hiring partner at a large atlanta firm. So the above posters who say that busy partners are not going to spend their time on law students are not necessarily correct.

+1 - Many say what they "think" rather than what they "know".

[edgarderby]

if you are doing this for a leg-up on your prospects of future employment, don't bother. if an associate isnt busy racking up billable hours and presenting face time at the office they probably have better things to do. a junior partner/counsel has more work and even less time... and i doubt you could convince a more senior partner who bills clients $700-$1100/hour to notice you.

i think you'd have better luck seeking out partners who lecture or serve as adjunct professors at your law school and seeing if you can catch them after class for a chat, i'm sure they would be far more receptive than the ones you approach at their offices.

I had an ND partner alumni set me up with multiple lunches with partners of OTHER firms in his city whom he knew well, partners who weren't even from ND.

I think ND is strongest at this type of networking, but I'm sure it exists for all schools to some degree.

LOL@asking professors for job help. The difference is I was probably the only person that went to lunch with those partners, while profs get asked job questions daily.

[Matthies]

Lawyers are surprisingly willing to do this. I am 3/4 via random completely contact - looking on the website and finding someone in my practice area (2 in asia, and 2 in LA/OC). I wanted to learn more about the field i am going to, and where is a better place to ask? The answer is not the career center.

Plus, you get to practice being in a professional environment and having professional conversation.

Tip I got - be really blatant in your subject with something that will grad their attention like, i.e. (*law school name* 1L, other pertinent things). i.e. I said Boalt Hall (Berkeley Law) 1L, Ph.D. Chemistry, Patent Agent. Seems a bit harsh imo, but it worked for me.

All of this is good advice in this post. To add to Amy's point about 3/4 you will find several people who say no or don't respond, or do but you don't really connect with, fine, move on, keep asking, don't give up if 1 or 2 people say no. People like feeling needed, lawyers like feeling needed more than most, the chance to shape young mushy minds is almost inristable to many. While I agree, young associates 1-3 years are not as helpful to know as a hiring partner, every cotact helps becuase if they like you they will into you to thier contatcs, so don't rule out younger associates as well. They often have better tips on recent job search stuff as well, but a good mix is best, sometimes young assscoaites don't know what the hell they are doing as well.

PS you should do this all trhough LS, joining the local bar assn is a good way to meet people as well, as are Inns of Court

[jnorsky]

So is emailing partners the way to go? Or should I email both associates and partners? I figure associates would be good just cause I might have more in common with them.

[enygma]

what's the etiquette on going to lunch/coffee/beer with the partner? should you pay for their meal, etc?

[rando]

what's the etiquette on going to lunch/coffee/beer with the partner? should you pay for their meal, etc?

IME they always pay. On the first meet I always pull out my wallet and offer and they have turned me down every time. If you're meeting an associate on the other hand, the payment is much less likely to come out of the firm's account so you should try harder to pay your own way.

[Anonymous User]

what's the etiquette on going to lunch/coffee/beer with the partner? should you pay for their meal, etc?

IME they always pay. On the first meet I always pull out my wallet and offer and they have turned me down every time. If you're meeting an associate on the other hand, the payment is much less likely to come out of the firm's account so you should try harder to pay your own way.

loL, reverse psychology! nice!

[rando]

what's the etiquette on going to lunch/coffee/beer with the partner? should you pay for their meal, etc?

IME they always pay. On the first meet I always pull out my wallet and offer and they have turned me down every time. If you're meeting an associate on the other hand, the payment is much less likely to come out of the firm's account so you should try harder to pay your own way.

loL, reverse psychology! nice!

Haha. It's not that I'm not willing to pay, but I think they appreciate the gesture. Honestly, it is an awkward 15sec no matter how you go about it.

[SBimmer]

what's the etiquette on going to lunch/coffee/beer with the partner? should you pay for their meal, etc?

IME they always pay. On the first meet I always pull out my wallet and offer and they have turned me down every time. If you're meeting an associate on the other hand, the payment is much less likely to come out of the firm's account so you should try harder to pay your own way.

loL, reverse psychology! nice!

Haha. It's not that I'm not willing to pay, but I think they appreciate the gesture. Honestly, it is an awkward 15sec no matter how you go about it.

Rando: You always have the option of treating the partner/associate.

[rando]

loL, reverse psychology! nice!

Haha. It's not that I'm not willing to pay, but I think they appreciate the gesture. Honestly, it is an awkward 15sec no matter how you go about it.

Rando: You always have the option of treating the partner/associate.

Like I said above, when you are with an associate etiquette is that you pay your own way. Every single time I have eaten a meal with a partner they have told me to put my wallet away. The above poster who said "reverse psychology" clearly misread my post.

I know for a fact that most of these meals come out of firm recruiting budgets when you are dining with a partner and they treat it as such. I would like to see you argue with a partner who tells you that you will not be paying for the meal.

[SBimmer]

loL, reverse psychology! nice!

Haha. It's not that I'm not willing to pay, but I think they appreciate the gesture. Honestly, it is an awkward 15sec no matter how you go about it.

Rando: You always have the option of treating the partner/associate.

Like I said above, when you are with an associate etiquette is that you pay your own way. Every single time I have eaten a meal with a partner they have told me to put my wallet away. The above poster who said "reverse psychology" clearly misread my post.

I know for a fact that most of these meals come out of firm recruiting budgets when you are dining with a partner and they treat it as such. I would like to see you argue with a partner who tells you that you will not be paying for the meal.

Correcto - Do as the partner says. However, I had lunch with a partner and we ate at a cafeteria-style place. I was ahead of him in line and I paid for my own food. The partner and I are having dinner next week, and I suspect he'll pay the tab.

[futurelawyer413]

what's the etiquette on going to lunch/coffee/beer with the partner? should you pay for their meal, etc?

IME they always pay. On the first meet I always pull out my wallet and offer and they have turned me down every time. If you're meeting an associate on the other hand, the payment is much less likely to come out of the firm's account so you should try harder to pay your own way.

loL, reverse psychology! nice!

Haha. It's not that I'm not willing to pay, but I think they appreciate the gesture. Honestly, it is an awkward 15sec no matter how you go about it.

i was just kidding! in all seriousness though - i do agree that those 15 secs can be pretty awkward and it is always a professional gesture

EDit - just realized i posted as the Anonymous User, oh well! nothing to hide here haha

[rando]

Correcto - Do as the partner says. However, I had lunch with a partner and we ate at a cafeteria-style place. I was ahead of him in line and I paid for my own food. The partner and I are having dinner next week, and I suspect he'll pay the tab.

Ha - yes. In that situation I can absolutely see the dilemma.

What most of the above anecdote was geared at was a repeat encounter with the same partner. After the first time we ate together and he told me to put away the wallet, every time in the future is sort of that weird purgatory of pulling out the wallet and him saying "haven't we been over this? put away your money."

[SBimmer]

Correcto - Do as the partner says. However, I had lunch with a partner and we ate at a cafeteria-style place. I was ahead of him in line and I paid for my own food. The partner and I are having dinner next week, and I suspect he'll pay the tab.

Ha - yes. In that situation I can absolutely see the dilemma.

What most of the above anecdote was geared at was a repeat encounter with the same partner. After the first time we ate together and he told me to put away the wallet, every time in the future is sort of that weird purgatory of pulling out the wallet and him saying "haven't we been over this? put away your money."

I completely understand/agree. I'll at least pull out my wallet after our first formal meal to pay my share and see what he says. I venture to guess that he'll pay the bill.

P.S. I'm glad the partner is taking the time mentor/groom me, and I'm perfectly fine paying for my food.