Big Law: Signs You're Getting Fired as a First Year Forum

[Anonymous User]

Right off the bat, there's no juicy story to share and nobody has been abusive to me so this thread isn't going to entertain anybody. I googled "signs you're getting fired," etc., but a lot of that information could go both ways in big law. Basically, I want a list of factors that might be indicative of your days being limited.

[Anonymous User]

I know a few people who got fired as first years at my firm. Every one involved being frozen out from work, even on cases they were already staffed on. No dramatic email kicking you off a case, just slowly dying off with no explanation or reason given. And then no other partners would give them a chance, either.

[Anonymous User]

I know a few people who got fired as first years at my firm. Every one involved being frozen out from work, even on cases they were already staffed on. No dramatic email kicking you off a case, just slowly dying off with no explanation or reason given. And then no other partners would give them a chance, either.

What did they do to get "frozen out"?

[Anonymous User]

I know a few people who got fired as first years at my firm. Every one involved being frozen out from work, even on cases they were already staffed on. No dramatic email kicking you off a case, just slowly dying off with no explanation or reason given. And then no other partners would give them a chance, either.

What did they do to get "frozen out"?

Curious about this as well. No first year has been fired from my firm, no matter how bad (if there is such a thing as a "bad" first year). I think it is assumed that you have a year to catch on/get a feel for what you do.

[Anonymous User]

I know a few people who got fired as first years at my firm. Every one involved being frozen out from work, even on cases they were already staffed on. No dramatic email kicking you off a case, just slowly dying off with no explanation or reason given. And then no other partners would give them a chance, either.

What did they do to get "frozen out"?

A mixture of things. I'm only working with partial knowledge, but about half were frozen out for mistakes that aren't too uncommon for first years (missed a case, availability miscommunication, etc.) - they just happened to make the mistakes for the wrong people. Also, in at least one case, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that they were thrown under the bus by the senior associate with whom the miscommunication occurred, though for obvious reasons I'll never be privy to whether that happened. But they made the error, word got around, and that was the end of that. I don't know if they had lingering work reputation issues from their SA that the mistakes compounded.

Then there are the people who just aren't cut out for biglaw mentally and/or don't want to put in the hours. Those people are apparent from the start and it's hard to feel too bad for them, though I kind of do to the extent they were fooled by the summer program into thinking friendly hours and reasonableness were a thing at most law firms. They would pull the stuff you would expect to get a young associate fired: leaving early each day with work still to be done, screaming from stress, etc. Either way in an early review they got told that biglaw wasn't for them.

I would also be more worried if you didn't fit in demographically with the firm, which is a disturbing trend among early fires / exits that I've seen.

[Anonymous User]

OP here: The no bullshit advice I got before I started was to always keep cool and don't lose your shit over being slow, because it happens. I've also seen other first years who clearly everybody likes sulk and seek validation when they're slow, and it's so clear they're worked up for no reason. So basically the gist is, "Are you slow?," but being slow doesn't mean anything. Then people ask why lawyers overthink everything.

[Anonymous User]

[/quote]

I would also be more worried if you didn't fit in demographically with the firm, which is a disturbing trend among early fires / exits that I've seen.[/quote]

Please elaborate..

[Biglaw Investor]

"Are you slow?," but being slow doesn't mean anything. Then people ask why lawyers overthink everything.

Everyone is slow from to time. It's the nature of the work. The question is whether the people you work with give you repeat work. Check in with them and see if they're busy. If they're busy AND they're not giving you repeat work, then that might be a problem. Wait a couple months. If they never give you work again, it's a sign that they're working with over people. But even that doesn't necessarily mean that you're on your way out. It just means they fit better with the other associates.

You've got to find your tribe and that takes time.

I definitely would not worry about it very much. Just focus on doing the best job you can. Junior associates that contribute and make life easier for mid-levels are valuable and will get work assuming there is work to give.

[Anonymous User]

Almost nobody gets fired as a first year. I'm a midlevel now and I don't know anyone from either law school or my former firms that got fired as a first year.

[gk101]

Almost nobody gets fired as a first year. I'm a midlevel now and I don't know anyone from either law school or my former firms that got fired as a first year.

yeah you have to have some incredible fuckups to get fired as a first year and even then you get an extra 6 months or so to get your act together after that first annual review

[dixiecupdrinking]

Almost nobody gets fired as a first year. I'm a midlevel now and I don't know anyone from either law school or my former firms that got fired as a first year.

yeah you have to have some incredible fuckups to get fired as a first year and even then you get an extra 6 months or so to get your act together after that first annual review

This or your firm is in exceptionally dire circumstances. Either way not worth the energy to worry about. Most of the stuff that stresses you out as a first year turns out to be just the weird passive aggressive way that law firms normally operate.

[Danger Zone]

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