10-Q Summer/New Job Advice – Summer 2024 Update [PART 1]

May 29, 2024

For the last several years, at the end of the school year, the faculty editors of The Temple 10-Q have offered tips for those starting new jobs (here and here), chiefly for rising 3Ls taking summer jobs but, we believe, good for anyone embarking on a new career as a lawyer. Times have changed——we’ve lived through COVID (barely)—but the need for sage advice has not. Thus, we present an updated version of our random advice for those who are about to be employed, in two parts. This week, we talk about the work; next week, we will talk about socializing.

The Work

1. Before you start your new job, know something about the history, mission, and culture of the place. Where did they come from, where do they think they are going—and how do you think you can be part of that? In some cases, the answers will be obvious (and readily available on the employer’s website). Sometimes, the best sources of information will be mid-level-ish folks (g., junior partners at firms) who have just made what passes for a long-term (possibly informed) commitment to the place (i.e., becoming partner at the firm).
2. The availability of work in the current economic environment continues to be uncertain. The legal market has been “hot” recently, but interest rates remain high, inflation sticky, and other macro, geopolitical events ever present—ChatGPT, the Middle East, the 2024 election, anyone?—portending an uncertain future. Be as flexible as you can and offer to help with any type of assignment. The program may not have the luxury of having a bunch of assignments in your particular area of interest. Mergers & acquisitions may still be strong, but bankruptcy could be an emerging model.
3. Information security is a common concern. Take seriously each and every thing the employer tells you about cyber-security and if you have questions or concerns, ask. Some employers use Zoom, Teams, or Dropbox; some don’t. Do not cut corners, and do not click on the seemingly innocuous .txt attachment from a vaguely familiar (but possibly spoofed) email. Also, always read the “to” and “cc” lines in your email one last time before you hit “send.” Calling an email back only draws attention to the fact that you shouldn’t have sent it in the first place.
4. Your first assignment: Understand it to the best of your ability. Listen as effectively as you possibly can to the assigning attorney. Senior lawyers (and, if you are lucky, clients) will dump complex projects on you with sometimes less-than-adequate explanations. You will probably need to take lots of notes on the fly. Never enter anyone’s office (or log on to a meeting) without a pad of paper and a pen (and don’t type on a laptop in someone’s face). Minimize distractions in your environment and close other windows and apps.
5. Review your notes immediately after getting the assignment. If you are like most of us, they will be incomplete chicken scratchings garnished with random arrows and doodles. Now is the time to make that stuff make sense, not after lunch or later in the afternoon, when you’ve forgotten what it all means.
6. If you have questions, ask. But remember, contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as a stupid question—and you may have to ask one. That’s not necessarily a problem, if you have a good reason for asking it, because you won’t know the question is stupid until you ask it: you don’t know, what you don’t know. Always have what you think is the most plausible answer (and potential alternative answers), to show that you are at least trying to get a clue.
7. Key questions to which you should always know the answer: (i) What’s the deadline? (ii) What’s the deliverable? (iii) Who is the ultimate audience? (iv) Who should I ask if I have questions? (v) If your employer requires you to bill time, to whom is it billable? and (vi) How much time should I spend on it? (Don’t dedicate 6 hours to something that is expected to take 1.)
8. That last point—time management—is important and trickier than you might think. In our experience, everything takes longer than expected. One of us applies a 2.5 multiplier to every work-related time estimate. Sometimes, external factors (g., a statute of limitations) provide the deadline. More often, figuring out what the issues are, and how to address them, just takes time—sometimes a lot. Be realistic with yourself and those with whom you work about how quickly you think you can do something. Communicate along the way, especially if it is taking longer than you (or they) expected.
9. Get to know and gain the respect of the support staff. They are often far more knowledgeable and important to the realities of practice—how to get things done—than junior (and sometimes senior) attorneys. They are professionals. Treat them with respect and there is a good chance they will respond in kind.
10. Sometimes you may be asked to produce a “draft.” Do not be fooled. Even if it purports to be a “draft,” do not treat it as anything less than a final version. Come as close to perfection as time/resources/your judgment allow. Is it consistent with the office’s form/style? If they always use Calibri, don’t be “different” and use Copperplate Gothic Bold. Is it grammatically correct? Have you proofed it (twice) and run spell-check (remembering that even this won’t save you if you’ve written brilliantly about a “proof of clam”)?
11. Use ChatGPT or any other type of generative AI for legal work with extreme caution! While it may be tempting to cut corners to meet a tight deadline or take some work off of your plate, these resources can, and often do, lead to potential errors or misunderstandings, which could have serious consequences in the legal field. If you use it, make sure you double-check the accuracy of the information gleaned, and make sure you know the employer’s policies on its use.
12. For many purposes, your “client” will be the senior attorney for whom you work. She will have the relationship with the real client, and she does (and should) control your relationship to that client and the work you do for them. Do not get ahead of (or, worse, contradict) her. And, try to understand the ultimate goal. There is an old saying (among old lawyers): answer the question the assigning attorney meant to ask, not necessarily the one she happened to ask. Knowing where she ultimately wants to go can provide that sort of insight, thus reducing incentives for guess-work or telepathy.
13. Most important: Have you solved the problem you were asked to solve as effectively as possible under the circumstances? At the end of the day, you are in a service profession, and the service is problem-solving. You are entering a very competitive environment. There are many other highly qualified people who would love to show that they can solve problems better than you—which they will, if they’ve followed these tips, and you haven’t . . . .

There is doubtless more we could say. And so we will, next week, when we offer a random list of tips on social matters. If you like this list—or don’t—let us know. If you have other, better suggestions, please let us know what they are. We’d love to hear from you.