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I recently learned that the TLS community/forums are active even for lawyers after law school, so I wanted to share a resource I've been working on for the last 6 months: Blacklines & Billables (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/).

B&B is a blog and forum dedicated to sharing practical tips and tricks for success among Biglaw associates and starting conversations around other important aspects of associate life, such as the state of legal technology. Our goal is to help new (and not-so-new) lawyers compare notes on how best to get up to speed and excel in the fast-paced and demanding world of Biglaw. (Our “About” page (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/about/) and the blog’s first/“Welcome" post (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/2016/08/15/welcome/) will give a quick overview of what we’re trying to achieve.)

Of particular relevance to this community might be our initial "Biglaw Basics" series, which is essentially a crash-course for first year associates on how best to get up to speed in their new jobs (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/cate ... aw-basics/). It addresses some higher level, thematic topics (such as how to add value to teams early in your career and take charge of your own development), as well some more granular and tangible ones (such as how to effective create and turn mark-ups, how to read in on a new matter, how to best handle new-matter staffing meetings, etc.).

We've also just launched two new series where partners ("View from the Top") and former Biglaw lawyers turned in-house counsel ("View from the Client Side") share their take on what makes associates effective and successful.

I'd look forward to hearing reactions from the TLS community on the content we're offering, and I hope you'll join us as a regular reader and (hopefully) sharer of your own tips and tricks for associate success!

christianllang wrote:I recently learned that the TLS community/forums are active even for lawyers after law school, so I wanted to share a resource I've been working on for the last 6 months: Blacklines & Billables (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/).

B&B is a blog and forum dedicated to sharing practical tips and tricks for success among Biglaw associates and starting conversations around other important aspects of associate life, such as the state of legal technology. Our goal is to help new (and not-so-new) lawyers compare notes on how best to get up to speed and excel in the fast-paced and demanding world of Biglaw. (Our “About” page (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/about/) and the blog’s first/“Welcome" post (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/2016/08/15/welcome/) will give a quick overview of what we’re trying to achieve.)

Of particular relevance to this community might be our initial "Biglaw Basics" series, which is essentially a crash-course for first year associates on how best to get up to speed in their new jobs (https://blacklinesandbillables.com/cate ... aw-basics/). It addresses some higher level, thematic topics (such as how to add value to teams early in your career and take charge of your own development), as well some more granular and tangible ones (such as how to effective create and turn mark-ups, how to read in on a new matter, how to best handle new-matter staffing meetings, etc.).

We've also just launched two new series where partners ("View from the Top") and former Biglaw lawyers turned in-house counsel ("View from the Client Side") share their take on what makes associates effective and successful.

I'd look forward to hearing reactions from the TLS community on the content we're offering, and I hope you'll join us as a regular reader and (hopefully) sharer of your own tips and tricks for associate success!

This seems so helpful! Do you think summer associates can learn some info on this too?

I do. I was thinking about putting together a separate series dedicated for summer associates (and I still might), but I suspect that the advice for summer associates will overlap substantially with the advice for the first years (and that's really for whom the Biglaw Basics series is written). I'm actually in the process of reaching out to law schools to offer talks and trainings to the graduating 3Ls, as well as the 2Ls and 1Ls heading to firms for the summer.

The forum component of the site is essentially new/empty, but I hope, as the community grows, we can have a robust Q&A environment where summers can have a safe space to ask questions they'd rather not internally, etc. To that end, if you see something in the content that is particularly interesting or confusing as a current or prospective summer, please drop a comment or post a topic in the forum. I'm sure the community (myself included) would be happy to help.

seems awesome, thanks!