Developing New Attorneys

The Miami Herald published an article called Meeting in the Middle on which the ABA Journal commented Friday. While it is easy for any professional to view other generations and their differences with criticism, together, these articles discuss how generations of attorneys can work together effectively and bring out the best in one another.  What do you think of Ms. Goodman’s take?

In the first two entries, I discussed my experience taking a new associate to a conference and a couple of the specific goals.  However, in a broader sense, bringing this new attorney to an event was an important step in fostering team spirit.  If I want a new attorney to feel that we are in this together, I must show her that reality – we are working as a team.  Although the goal in any file is to best represent the client, I am also here to help the associate learn and grow.  That attitude improves the representation we provide in the short and long run.  When working on files together, I often bring a new associate to hearings, mediations, depositions, and other file-related events if they have not attended such an event already.  Although it is tempting to take the lead in this setting and hope the associate learns by watching your example, I find it is more effective to work together with the associate: prompting the associate to offer her ideas or strategies, asking questions to inspire her own self-analysis about the anticipated outcomes, and then providing feedback.  Taking that first-year associate to the conference recently was another way to show her that she is a part of this firm’s team as it relates to all aspects of the firm’s practice.  Our associates recognize they are not at a firm simply comprised of attorneys working independently.  Our firm is a team with common goals, the first of which is best representation of our clients, and that first-year associate has already shown in the way she takes responsibility over her files that she carries that view.