First year -- getting frozen out or paranoid? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hello everyone, I would really like some advice.

I am a first year associate, and I have been at the firm for over 8 months now. I'm the most junior person on most of my teams, which is often staffed with with one second year (who clerked and started a month after me) and two senior associates (7-9th year). I'm finding that in most assignments, I'm almost always exclusively staffed on grunt work (doc review, citechecking, bindermaking), with one-off legal research assignments here and there, and have not touched a single writing assignment, whereas the second year often does. Sometimes the second year and I get grunt work assigned together, but more often than not, I'm the only person handling the most administrative work on the team all by myself. There were a couple writing assignments that ended up being reassigned to more senior associates (and sometimes even the second year associate) so that I can focus on the aforementioned grunt work. When this happens, the partner is nice about it and isn't mean. My hours haven't been low, but I wonder if the other junior associate seemingly getting most of the writing assignment (I figured 7-9th years getting brief writing is normal) means I'm being frozen out or if this is just a function of me being the most junior person on the cases.

[Anonymous User]

This is literally what all first years do. I have a friend who spent his entire first year organizing sig blocks. You are fine.

[Person1111]

I wouldn't worry that you are getting frozen out, but it doesn't sound like great professional development.

[Anonymous User]

I wouldn't worry that you are getting frozen out, but it doesn't sound like great professional development.

Maybe frozen out wasn't the right word. Have I been kind of written off as associate with no potential? I'm only mainly worried because the work I get and the second year gets is so different, even though we are both "junior associates"

[LBJ's Hair]

I wouldn't worry that you are getting frozen out, but it doesn't sound like great professional development.

Maybe frozen out wasn't the right word. Have I been kind of written off as associate with no potential? I'm only mainly worried because the work I get and the second year gets is so different, even though we are both "junior associates"

I don't think so. He/she clerked, ie spent a year doing tons of substantive legal writing. You didn't. So the senior associates/partners likely don't view you equally (in)experienced, and if there's one brief-writing assignment and one doc review assignment available for the junior associates, they're going to have the person who clerked do the former and you do the latter.

But you're right to want to get writing opportunities ASAP. Best way to develop. Ask if you can do more substantive work, while making clear that you're still going to do the doc review, binder-making, etc?

[jbagelboy]

This sounds awful. I can’t imagine. Doesn’t sound like you’re getting frozen out, just seems like a terrible firm to be a first year litigator

[Anonymous User]

You're a first year, so some nonsubstantive work or even a majority--but not all--is expected. That said, if it continues much past your first year, I would look to lateral, as there will be a stronger case at that point that you've gotten pigeonholed for some reason. It may be nothing to do with you by the way: could be group dynamics, poor management, everybody attended the same school and you didn't, etc. Who knows.

I've seen this happen before, and you're probably not getting "frozen out" in the sense that you won't have a job soon. But you're not going to get any development either, and you've got to be the advocate for your own career. So if you're not seeing some change past like the summer or so, I'd start looking.

Just my two cents.

[JHP]

It seems like, partially, the reason why the gruntiest of the grunt work is trickling down to you is because of the way the matter is staffed. Having 2 junior people staffed means that the more senior associate will get the meatier version of the junior work, while you get the trimmings.

But you're right to want to get writing opportunities ASAP. Best way to develop. Ask if you can do more substantive work, while making clear that you're still going to do the doc review, binder-making, etc?

This is the best way to politely but firmly elbow your way into more substantive work when you're staffed on deals where work is just doled out to you. When you receive an assignment or are even copied on an e-mail where someone senior says something like "We need to get started on that memo" or "Can someone get on the phone with X and figure this out," you could e-mail your immediate mid/senior-level associate and ask "Can I take a first crack at the memo/can I help you pull together the skeleton, etc." or "Could I dial in to the meeting/the client call and shadow you and listen in on the discussion?" The latter may not be a way to directly get more substantive work, but I think it plants the seed in others' mind that you're serious about really participating and that your head is in the game. I've done the latter and have offered to just not bill my time to the client (just bill it to training/development/shadowing time).

Depending on whether your team members like you and vice-versa, you could also periodically ask for feedback on assignments/research tasks and how you could do better. Again, not so much a way to directly get more substantive work, but plants the seed that you're not just handing in stuff, but actively trying to grow. I think most people will respond to this by wanting to give you chances to apply that feedback when they can.

(Disclaimer: I'm in corporate, so maybe this advice doesn't totally apply in lit?)

[splitmuch]

It seems like, partially, the reason why the gruntiest of the grunt work is trickling down to you is because of the way the matter is staffed. Having 2 junior people staffed means that the more senior associate will get the meatier version of the junior work, while you get the trimmings.

But you're right to want to get writing opportunities ASAP. Best way to develop. Ask if you can do more substantive work, while making clear that you're still going to do the doc review, binder-making, etc?

This is the best way to politely but firmly elbow your way into more substantive work when you're staffed on deals where work is just doled out to you. When you receive an assignment or are even copied on an e-mail where someone senior says something like "We need to get started on that memo" or "Can someone get on the phone with X and figure this out," you could e-mail your immediate mid/senior-level associate and ask "Can I take a first crack at the memo/can I help you pull together the skeleton, etc." or "Could I dial in to the meeting/the client call and shadow you and listen in on the discussion?" The latter may not be a way to directly get more substantive work, but I think it plants the seed in others' mind that you're serious about really participating and that your head is in the game. I've done the latter and have offered to just not bill my time to the client (just bill it to training/development/shadowing time).

Depending on whether your team members like you and vice-versa, you could also periodically ask for feedback on assignments/research tasks and how you could do better. Again, not so much a way to directly get more substantive work, but plants the seed that you're not just handing in stuff, but actively trying to grow. I think most people will respond to this by wanting to give you chances to apply that feedback when they can.

(Disclaimer: I'm in corporate, so maybe this advice doesn't totally apply in lit?)

This is right. The easiest way to ensure that you get the substantive task is to 1) proactively flag a substantive task needs to be done but hasn't been done while 2) volunteering to do it.