Advice for succeeding at a new firm - lateral or new associate Forum

[lateralquestions]

Would anyone have any resources or advice for doing well as a new associate? I have seen a few books online geared towards litigation, but prefer advice tailored to junior corporate associates. Right now, I plan on being extremely organized, detail oriented, getting in to the office at 7 AM.

[Yugihoe]

^That's not a good plan. Most associates don't get into the office until 9:30-10 in the NY market at least. I doubt people will be emailing you at 7am, but you can definitely bet that you will get emails at 10 pm. So sleep up when you can.

[hoos89]

What market are you in? Maybe 7 am would be reasonable if you're on the west coast and doing a lot of work with clients/firms on the east coast, but I certainly wouldn't default to that time unless told otherwise. At least for east coast firms there won't be anyone in the office at 7 am unless they're there from the night before.

Figure out when people in your office get in. Ask the rooting contact what time you're expected to arrive if you're not sure, but I'd guess it's 9:00-9:30. Eventually you'll be able to feel out the expectations of when you're supposed to be there, but getting in that early is a recipe for disaster. I wouldn't expect you'd be able to leave any earlier as a junior associate because you came in early. As a junior you need to just be there when other people are there.

[toast and bananas]

Since getting in at 7:00 has been thoroughly covered and appropriately shot down as a terrible idea, i'll point out a couple extra things that you didn't mention in your original post. These may seem obvious but you'd be surprised how many people don't follow them.

Be available, responsive and eager to work/help out (but not annoyingly so), even if (read: especially if) it's late at night or on the weekend. This will go a long way towards gaining a good rep when you start out, which is crucial.

Treat every work assignment/interaction as if you're making a first impression, because you are. If you're in a large group, even after a couple months (or even years) you'll be working with people you've never worked with before.

Part of being a good associate for the long term and a generally happy person is going to involve having the willingness to be very flexible when it comes to your personal and social life. Some people deal with the long and unpredictable hours better/worse than others. I think it really helps if you accept the fact at the outset that you will be working a lot and it will be difficult to stick to your social plans at times. The lulls are equally unpredictable - take advantage of them. Remember that it's a marathon and not a sprint.

If you've never had an office job before, figure out quick how to act like a freakin' normal person in an office space.

Realize that, when you think you're busy, there are always, always people who are busier. Be very cautious about turning down work because you're "too busy" for exactly that reason. Don't complain about being busy (or anything else, really) to anyone except your classmates. Shit rolls downhill, not up.

Questions are great and welcome but for god's sake try to figure out the answer yourself first.

Don't bring donuts or something thinking it will help.

Doing good work rises above all else.

There's a lot more to say here but that's all I feel like doling out right now. YYMV

[lateralquestions]

Since getting in at 7:00 has been thoroughly covered and appropriately shot down as a terrible idea, i'll point out a couple extra things that you didn't mention in your original post. These may seem obvious but you'd be surprised how many people don't follow them.

Be available, responsive and eager to work/help out (but not annoyingly so), even if (read: especially if) it's late at night or on the weekend. This will go a long way towards gaining a good rep when you start out, which is crucial.

Treat every work assignment/interaction as if you're making a first impression, because you are. If you're in a large group, even after a couple months (or even years) you'll be working with people you've never worked with before.

Part of being a good associate for the long term and a generally happy person is going to involve having the willingness to be very flexible when it comes to your personal and social life. Some people deal with the long and unpredictable hours better/worse than others. I think it really helps if you accept the fact at the outset that you will be working a lot and it will be difficult to stick to your social plans at times. The lulls are equally unpredictable - take advantage of them. Remember that it's a marathon and not a sprint.

If you've never had an office job before, figure out quick how to act like a freakin' normal person in an office space.

Realize that, when you think you're busy, there are always, always people who are busier. Be very cautious about turning down work because you're "too busy" for exactly that reason. Don't complain about being busy (or anything else, really) to anyone except your classmates. Shit rolls downhill, not up.

Questions are great and welcome but for god's sake try to figure out the answer yourself first.

Don't bring donuts or something thinking it will help.

Doing good work rises above all else.

There's a lot more to say here but that's all I feel like doling out right now. YYMV

Thank you. I am working in Chicago if that changes anyone’s assessment. I used to work from 8 to 6ish during the summer and would wait until people cleared out or I had nothing else to do.


Would you have any resources that would better my corporate law knowledge? I took as many transactional law classes as possible. But, I would like to learn more.

[barkschool]

I’ve actually seen in the ivtworm (is that his name?) partner thread that you can brush up on your practice area to try to hit the ground running, but in my experience anything you could’ve found in the book can be found on investopia or elsewhere. (At least to the extent you’ll need it)

Even if it looks like it they do, no one really expects you to know much.

[qxfr]

Ask lots of questions but (a) spend at least 5 minutes trying to figure out the answer yourself (which includes google, checking precedent/comp deals, asking your officemate) before asking anything and (b) unless the question is a time-sensitive item that you need to know to proceed with work, try to group your questions together instead of calling every 30 mins with a new one.

Attention to detail is obviously important but really focus on making sure you don't make certain kinds of mistakes: don't misspell or mix up names (especially of your client, or of yourself or your firm), don't get deal terms wrong in a way that confuses people, don't email the wrong people (be careful about Outlook autocomplete - very easy to send emails to someone with a similar name), don't copy in language from a different deal without fixing all the defined terms and cross-references. 100% mistake-free work product is not realistic, but you can be 100% free from embarrassing mistakes.

Good corporate books:
https://www.amazon.com/Working-Contract ... d_sim_14_1
https://www.amazon.com/Drafting-Corpora ... 140240882X