I'll be an introverted junior associate in the corporate group of a firm that is very proud of its free market system. There are a few threads on TLS about free market systems, but they're pretty empty or old.
Would like general advice on how to navigate the free market system as an introvert and have a few questions:
1. How competitive of an edge do assertive and outgoing people have in a free market system? Does this fluctuate depending on how much work there is to go around? I've always heard that it hugely advantages those that are more aggressive or gunner types, but it seems with so much work in corporate, this may no longer be a huge edge.
2. How often do you struggle with balancing deals and assignments? I like the idea of not having a central coordinator that divides work for associates but I think that leaves open the possibility that junior associates maybe struggle with the balancing and more easily become overwhelmed.
3. A little worried about messing up early on in my big law career and as a consequence striking out with certain partners. It may be unrealistic to expect not to strike out with any partners but concerned about not having any ties with partners that like me.
3(a). How do you even go about getting work? Do I knock on someone's office and ask for work? Am I getting work from senior associates as a first year? Or partners? Is email better? What do you say when you reach out? (I know this is silly but a paste / template would be useful in helping me conceptualize this process)
4. How do the implications of a free market system impact your practice group placement? I suspect that each firm differs in this area, but is it common for certain practice groups to not want you based on being unhappy with your work? If so, how bad do you have to be?
5. I'm sure there is a ton I haven't thought of so please reply with your experiences working in free market systems and what juniors should keep in mind.
Navigating free market systems Forum
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Anonymous User
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Re: Navigating free market systems
1) At the start, somewhat. Being more assertive will get you work on the front end- however, eventually it evens out, and you'll just find partners you mesh with. There were plenty of introverted partners at my firm as well.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Fri Feb 25, 2022 8:14 pmI'll be an introverted junior associate in the corporate group of a firm that is very proud of its free market system. There are a few threads on TLS about free market systems, but they're pretty empty or old.
Would like general advice on how to navigate the free market system as an introvert and have a few questions:
1. How competitive of an edge do assertive and outgoing people have in a free market system? Does this fluctuate depending on how much work there is to go around? I've always heard that it hugely advantages those that are more aggressive or gunner types, but it seems with so much work in corporate, this may no longer be a huge edge.
2. How often do you struggle with balancing deals and assignments? I like the idea of not having a central coordinator that divides work for associates but I think that leaves open the possibility that junior associates maybe struggle with the balancing and more easily become overwhelmed.
3. A little worried about messing up early on in my big law career and as a consequence striking out with certain partners. It may be unrealistic to expect not to strike out with any partners but concerned about not having any ties with partners that like me.
3(a). How do you even go about getting work? Do I knock on someone's office and ask for work? Am I getting work from senior associates as a first year? Or partners? Is email better? What do you say when you reach out? (I know this is silly but a paste / template would be useful in helping me conceptualize this process)
4. How do the implications of a free market system impact your practice group placement? I suspect that each firm differs in this area, but is it common for certain practice groups to not want you based on being unhappy with your work? If so, how bad do you have to be?
5. I'm sure there is a ton I haven't thought of so please reply with your experiences working in free market systems and what juniors should keep in mind.
2)It happens. It sucks, but I think you'll quickly learn your balance.
3)It is inevitable you have some bad xp with a partner- they may come back anyways, but don't be too hung up on doing work badly, especially as a first year; you will do work poorly. Try to pay attention to detail and not miss easy things like spell check or a wrong name (I've done this multiple times, sometimes multiple times so... but I finally do it a lot less now, but took awhile)
(a) Firm specific, but i'd knock on doors and just let them know I'm free and happy to do stuff. I'd go to senior associates and partners. At first I'd say who I was and ask them, then i'd say "I know you do XXXX and I find that stuff really interesting; please keep me in mind for any projects dealing with XXXX as I would like to dive in! Thanks so much"
4)It can be. Every firm is different. Some practice groups are large enough that if one partner doesn't like your work they'll bump you to a different partner. Others might only have 3 partners or something, so that situation is a bit tougher. I find though, that even if my work product isn't great, if I show initiative to learn and generally am nice, that goes a long way.
5) Just make something look presentable. Even if what you've done is total dog shit, make it look pretty. Having a nice looking doc goes a long way.
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attorney589753
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Re: Navigating free market systems
I think the differences between a FMS and staffing system can be overstated, but in my experiences the best junior associates made themselves very reliable to a few of the best midlevel associates and gathered loyalty points from them. In biglaw you need mentors and partners usually don't make the best mentors. So my advice would be to figure out the midlevel and senior associates you most want to work with, reach out to them (the best ones will be busy and need help), and then follow any of the generic "being a good junior" advice on this forum.
I agree that being outgoing helps someone get the "best" initial assignments, and I saw that happen sometimes, but reputation is built based on quality of work. Overextending yourself to try and hoard work is not a viable longterm path.
If you get more senior and want to gun for partner, you have to get more strategic about who you work with and what you work on, but not important to think about as a junior.
I agree that being outgoing helps someone get the "best" initial assignments, and I saw that happen sometimes, but reputation is built based on quality of work. Overextending yourself to try and hoard work is not a viable longterm path.
If you get more senior and want to gun for partner, you have to get more strategic about who you work with and what you work on, but not important to think about as a junior.
