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All firms with a Chambers & Associate profile go into whether the firm uses a freemarket system or an assignment coordinator/assigning partner. However, many firms on my interview list don't have a Chambers entry. Vault doesn't seem to mention this usually. And the firm's website never seems to mention it.

Is there any other way to discover how associates are assigned work? Is it an appropriate question to ask how it's done and then about their opinions on how it works? Pros/cons? Or is this too basic of a question?

Anonymous User wrote:All firms with a Chambers & Associate profile go into whether the firm uses a freemarket system or an assignment coordinator/assigning partner. However, many firms on my interview list don't have a Chambers entry. Vault doesn't seem to mention this usually. And the firm's website never seems to mention it.

Is there any other way to discover how associates are assigned work? Is it an appropriate question to ask how it's done and then about their opinions on how it works? Pros/cons? Or is this too basic of a question?

Totally appropriate.

anon168 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:All firms with a Chambers & Associate profile go into whether the firm uses a freemarket system or an assignment coordinator/assigning partner. However, many firms on my interview list don't have a Chambers entry. Vault doesn't seem to mention this usually. And the firm's website never seems to mention it.

Is there any other way to discover how associates are assigned work? Is it an appropriate question to ask how it's done and then about their opinions on how it works? Pros/cons? Or is this too basic of a question?

Totally appropriate.

yea just make sure it isn't already on their website or some other easily accessible place.

Great question, especially for those times when you need a question to avoid an awkward silence. Even if the website describes the system, you can always say 'the website says blah blah blah, can you tell me how that works in practice'

I think it's always good to talk about this. I think the assigning system is one of the biggest influences on your quality of life as a junior associate.

Loose Seal wrote:I think it's always good to talk about this. I think the assigning system is one of the biggest influences on your quality of life as a junior associate.

This.