“If you want to be a partner, act like a partner.”
A good friend, mentor and colleague shared this advice with me after he became a partner and I still served as a young associate—in the legal world, one evolutionary step up from pond scum. I offer it by way of introduction to some of the helpful hints for success in professional relationships that I provide to all new attorneys in my firm. Most of the rules equally apply to business relationships in general.
- Never turn down work. Work, whether billable or not, represents opportunity—the opportunity to impress, the opportunity to meet performance expectations, the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to identify economies of scale, the opportunity to practice outside of your comfort zone and the opportunity to maximize your potential. When your plate is full and you are presented with an opportunity, don’t say no. Rather, say something like: “That sounds like a really interesting project. I’d love to work on it, but I have assignments due Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Jane, Sandy and Steve. When do you need it?”
If the deadline is too short, suggest that perhaps the newly assigning attorney could coordinate with the other partners so you can satisfy everyone’s expectations and still keep all the work. Ultimately, the internal marketplace will prevail. Once you have established that you are the “go-to attorney,” partners will compete for your time by providing quality, challenging work that pays 30 days’ net.
- Always confirm an assignment in writing. Partners (and clients) are notoriously scatterbrained. They shoot from the hip and give work without thinking, or sometimes, remembering. If you do not receive an assignment in writing, or if you receive an ambiguous written assignment, send a short, respectful email defining the parameters of the project as you understand it. Succinctly state the issue presented. If you are not given a due date, offer one, while contemporaneously requesting confirmation of its reasonableness: “Based on the assignments due Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for Jane, Sandy and Steve, I anticipate completing the project by next Tuesday. Please let me know whether that is acceptable.”
If you have not been given a framework for the amount of billable time within which the assigning attorney (or client) expects you to complete the project, ask for or establish one: “Given the issue presented, I will not spend more than five hours of research time before I start drafting the memorandum without touching base with you. Please let me know if my projection is acceptable.” By managing expectations, you increase the likelihood that your time will be billed and the firm will be compensated for your efforts.
- Deliver timely work product. There is no such thing as a “false deadline.” Assigning attorneys expect to see a final draft of every significant memorandum, brief or other legal document well in advance of its due date. You do not know the assigning attorney’s schedule or intentions to share your work product with others for review and comment prior to service or delivery. His or her only opportunity to review your work may be a week or more before it is due to the client or the court. Meet deadlines with polished work product, not excuses.
- Clean your plate. Work loads ebb and flow. When your plate is less than full, instinctively you will slow your pace so that you “have something to do” tomorrow. Resist that instinct. Inevitably, tomorrow delivers an emergency project, followed by a raging fire, then by a “bet-the-farm” crisis, each of which takes precedence over “whatever else you’re doing” at the time. Ultimately, you fail to complete on a timely basis those projects you were rationing and client service suffers.
- Know the rules of the game. You will enjoy few moments as a litigator more than winning a case with dreadful facts on a procedural move that reflects that you know the rules of civil procedure and the rules of evidence better than your adversary. The state and federal rules, along with the Elements of Style and a pocket Constitution, serve as essential elements of every bathroom magazine rack and living room coffee table. What you learn while you are sitting on your butt may one day save it for you.
- Understand you are part of a team. Our first CEO once told me, “Great lawyers are a dime a dozen; good legal secretaries are one in a million.” From the CEO to the person who cleans your office, no one is more important to your success than anyone else. Show deference and respect to your non-attorney colleagues. Address everyone by name. Sincerely ask about their families and interests. Embrace their insights and suggestions. Learn from everyone with whom you work. Generously share what you know with them.
- Never hide your mistakes. The only problem that we can’t solve is the one about which we do not know. We all make mistakes. Few are fatal, if promptly addressed. Even “neglect” can be “excusable,” under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. As soon as you realize that you have blown a filing deadline, provided the wrong answer, inadvertently stepped over an ethical line, or in any way failed to meet the obligations owed to your clients, the court or to each other, talk to the assigning attorney and firm counsel. Rest assured, in the great run of cases, if addressed at the first opportunity, the problem will be easily resolved. If you hide it, you may be used as an example in a story about a former associate.
- Accept personal responsibility. If it goes out with your signature and it contains a mistake, it’s your fault. If you are the relationship manager and the client’s reasonable expectations are not satisfied, it’s your fault. If you ask someone to do something that does not get done, it’s your fault. If the runner forgets that the FedEx package is in the backseat of his car when he rushes to the hospital to see his mother in the ER (true story), it’s your fault. Never blame anyone or anything for a failure. Fall on your sword. Take the hit. Show class. iBi
