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Anonymous User wrote:I submitted an assignment to a partner recently and he said it needed a lot of work.

He didn’t really specifically say what was wrong with it but asked me to do something else related to the assignment ASAP.

I worked late until it was done and he said thanks for my help.

I’m also trying to bring in business for the firm.

Any reason to be concerned here? Guess I’ll just keep moving along.

I’m a new upper level associate at the firm so trying to trying to learn what the partners expect...

Thanks.

I would definitely try to find some time to talk to him about what he means. Did you miss important substantive points or did you not flesh something out that's now going to need more attention than the partner expected? Were you sloppier than he expected? Did you overbill for the work product you turned in? Did you start from a template/form he didn't like?

I can see a partner saying something like that if it turns out something is going to need more time thrown at it than budgeted/expected. But I would be concerned if you are a senior associate who totally missed the mark and can't understand or appreciate why you dropped the ball.

Easiest way to figure out what partners expect is to ask before billing on something that's not what they wanted.

If this partner has pull I would be updating my resume while trying to see if I can do better. He probably already decided you’re not competent.

Anonymous User wrote:If this partner has pull I would be updating my resume while trying to see if I can do better. He probably already decided you’re not competent.

Why not just talk to the guy? People on here tend to catastrophize too much. He might be upset but also might not. And even if he is, I wouldn't be looking to lateral right after arriving...Just hear the guy out and try to improve.

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hlss09 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:If this partner has pull I would be updating my resume while trying to see if I can do better. He probably already decided you’re not competent.

Why not just talk to the guy? People on here tend to catastrophize too much. He might be upset but also might not. And even if he is, I wouldn't be looking to lateral right after arriving...Just hear the guy out and try to improve.

This anon was me. Just being cautious, not saying you should lateral immediately. But people tend to make up their minds pretty quickly about others. It sucks, it isn’t fair and it may be unwarranted but thats how it is. You don’t lose anything by talking to the partner though but think about how to approach him/her. Keeping ur resume polished will give you some peace of mind too.

mvp99 wrote:

hlss09 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:If this partner has pull I would be updating my resume while trying to see if I can do better. He probably already decided you’re not competent.

Why not just talk to the guy? People on here tend to catastrophize too much. He might be upset but also might not. And even if he is, I wouldn't be looking to lateral right after arriving...Just hear the guy out and try to improve.

This anon was me. Just being cautious, not saying you should lateral immediately. But people tend to make up their minds pretty quickly about others. It sucks, it isn’t fair and it may be unwarranted but thats how it is. You don’t lose anything by talking to the partner though but think about how to approach him/her. Keeping ur resume polished will give you some peace of mind too.

mvp's right. Sure, it's possible (and hopefully this is the case) that the partner is willing to keep an open mind about OP. But it's also entirely possible that the partner has soured on OP - it's unfair, and IMO unwarranted and illogical, but jumping to conclusions about people - and then stubbornly sticking to those hasty conclusions - is (sadly) more common than not in the legal world.

Talk to the partner, see how things shake out over the next few weeks, and then determine whether you realistically see a long-term future at this firm. If things get rocky, it may be better to bounce asap/quickly rather than staying, say, 6 months.

Thanks again for the replies. I’m sure I’m not the only associate out there with this experience. I guess I’m going to just keep moving forward for now and hope for the best. Everyone has been pretty nice to me lately. It’s not like their attitude has changed.... maybe I’ll enjoy a cigar and drink tonight to calm me down.

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks again for the replies. I’m sure I’m not the only associate out there with this experience. I guess I’m going to just keep moving forward for now and hope for the best. Everyone has been pretty nice to me lately. It’s not like their attitude has changed.... maybe I’ll enjoy a cigar and drink tonight to calm me down.

Flapjack and a cigarette?
Cigar and a waffle?
Pipe and a crape?
Bond and a blintz?

The test is if he gives you more work. If you get more work from him don't worry. He may be just grumpy/dfficult.

Impossible to know, but I would try to pin the partner down on what you did wrong. Make it clear that you want to improve. I am guessing whatever you turned in was so far off that the partner just decided to just start over or basically do it themselves. Not the end of the world, but not exactly good either.

But it's a good sign they gave you another assignment. Keep doing your absolute best for this person, try to leverage other people around you if you can (senior associates that work with this person perhaps?), and try to figure out what happened so you can improve.

OP, does the partner have a reputation for being hard to work with? Or does he maybe have certain quirks about what he wants? If you haven't already, see if you can get anyone else who works with him to open up about his working style so you can make sure you're not just getting him the substance, but also the style of what he wants.

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