To excel as an associate, be a whole person

"When you're finished changing, you're finished."

- Benjamin Franklin

Richard Susskind, a legal industry analyst, spoke at a conference recently and closed with this quote from Benjamin Franklin. Susskind predicts dramatic changes in the legal industry, including increased competition from nonlawyers and technology. The pie is shrinking, he argues, and the special expertise that lawyers think they bring to clients turns out to be an illusion.

In this time of change, entering the legal profession as an associate takes a special person - someone with an internal gyroscope set to align direction between self and system across the horizon line of a career. As challenging as the future will be for lawyers, the satisfaction in the job and the professional, business, policy and societal accomplishments are great.

For lawyers just starting out, I have some observations about excelling in these times.

Professionalism & Ethics

Cultures change, and micro-cultures are plentiful in the U.S. While the informal dress-down culture of Silicon Valley creates a relaxed environment for associates, the buttoned-up, suit-and-tie standards are still strong in many regions and most court systems.

Associates should keep an eye on maintaining high standards of professionalism and ethics, regardless of the practice environment. Casual dress codes do not mean casual behavior, lower standards of professionalism, or lax ethics. Characteristics of professionalism an associate should exhibit include putting clients first - even when they interfere with vacation; a strong work ethic; practice excellence; enthusiasm; judiciousness under stress; and compliance with the Code of Ethics.

Skill Acquisition & Performance

An associate once asked my advice about joining the State Bar Board of Governors in her first year. It was a great opportunity and a substantial responsibility. But I asked her whether she would be able to both serve the State Bar and devote what was necessary to develop her skills as a junior associate. It is critical in early years of practice to acquire basic skills: research, writing, practical insight, oral advocacy, law and motion and more.

By mid-level, an associate cannot work on the basics as much because more responsibility is demanded for more complex assignments. And by the time one is a senior associate, he or she is focusing on partner-level capabilities.

Performance is key. Firms seek quality hours, whether an associate is working a full-time, part-time, or temporary schedule. At some point, the associate wants to feel that, when she stretched to perform at an extraordinary level, she succeeded. And that once achieved, it can be replicated and exceeded.

When researching in the early years, whether for career gain or as an assignment, associates should understand the law, not just snippets. Many associates go to secondary sources for answers. Those are helpful, but they should consider reading the statute and regulations involved, not just treatises, as well as the main cases. Many lawyers come up with the wrong answers because their research approach is piecemeal. If there is concern about overbilling, associates should navigate that with the person providing the assignment, and ask questions if the assignment is unclear. "Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything," as Wyatt Earp would say.

And a pointer on writing: stick to the basics and make it simple. Whether a brief or contract, many early lawyers cut and paste from older works. Writing from scratch brings cohesion to the assignment. Paragraph and sentence structure is key.

Customer Service

It may sound easy, yet placing a client's legal needs foremost in one's world is anything but. Across a career, challenges are distinct and faceted. At some point, particular representations will shake a lawyer to the core. Every lawyer needs a safety net to keep life in balance - family, religion, exercise, social life, the arts, charitable functions, entertainment, etc. At some point, that safety net will be profoundly stressed.

The threats of personal humiliation and embarrassment are present in some representations. Against that backdrop, customer service is not merely a principle in a mission statement. The idea is to implement the priority.

How does one learn customer service? Mostly, as Aristotle said, you learn by doing. Seek out more experienced lawyers who have long-term clients and watch, ask, replicate. Be on edge: never expect clients to cut you slack. Try to surpass client expectations. Tell clients that working for them is important. Ask client representatives what they want, and ensure the goals are clear. Most clients will help one achieve the service standards they want, and ensure the goals are clear.

Embracing your creativity will help create something new and valuable. Tap your unknowns to serve clients. Discover things for them. Take them along for rides of innovation and test their boundaries. In the best customer service environments, the client and lawyer are interacting to surpass goals and propel client objectives.Never stop marketing clients. Demonstrate thought about them regularly, not just when working for them.

Internal customers are as critical to an associate's career as external ones. Associates work "with" and "for" other associates, partners, paralegals and staff. A formal performance evaluation may not include all the people an associate serves, but one can expect that everyone the associate serves will evaluate him or her. The perceptions formed about you can erode or energize success. At times, perceptions will be unfair and, at other times, robustly and deeply gratifying. An associate should look at every person working "with" or "for" her as a client of some kind. One should maintain standards of professionalism with them all.

Networking

Networking also is critical in early years. A network formed in early years will be the support-base in later ones. Most people maintain friendships from school years. Developing relationships is different from maintaining them; consider expanding and growing existing relationships. Deepen them with the changes, animating yourself and the people in your network. Strong relationships contain various characteristics that lead to clients: trust, respect, a sense of intellect, knowledge about capabilities and interests.

As an associate meets new people, peers and clients, more will become a part of his or her network. Consider how to network with each person: Not everyone needs to be a social contact; some will be purely professional.

Use the firm's resources in marketing, training, IT and other resources to supplement networking. Engage social media after studying the law firm's social media policies. (Most firms restrict professional activities like the provision of legal advice over social media.) Join trade association groups that will not overtax time and resources. Select them on the basis of what value the organizations provide. Another technique is to connect people where they will benefit. Triggering new relationships is a form of respect.

Shooting a Moving Target

Complacency is a challenge for new lawyers. The complacent wait in their offices until tapped for assignments. Self-starting is tough. Anticipating where the target will be and aiming for that spot is the way to land opportunity.

How is that done for an associate? By pursuing areas of interest, studying the relevant practice group, identifying the movers - they need the most support. Learn how they seek support - what people, software, communication, support staff, etc. Study the legal framework, what kind of practice is it, what kinds of clients, how is practice management handled, who are the clients and how does demand for legal work from them develop. Identify cutting edge legal issues for these practices and study the jurisprudence. Then anticipate the practice's needs. Engage practice members on your interest and provide examples of value add. Keep in mind, high quality work is the best way to be noticed. Again, this is tough, but burn hot or don't bother.

Be a Whole Person

The best lawyers have a life because they have an understanding of civic activity, community, family and intellectualism - which makes for a better lawyer. Some aspects of life may receive short-shrift in the early years - and that's okay for a while, but not for long. Well-rounded people serve clients better because they can place legal advice and challenges into context. Most clients honor wisdom when attached to law practice. And wisdom is not all taught - it is lived.