If you’re starting out at a law firm, you’re probably thinking – how do I make a good first impression?
Yes, it’s important to become ‘technically competent’ (and you will over time). But being great at the non-technical parts of the job is what will make you shine in your first few months (and remain essential throughout your career).
This is about understanding what adds the most value to your team, and the actions that you can focus on to have the most impact. In my 7 years as a paralegal / junior lawyer, these tips helped me to:
- feel more secure and fulfilled in my job;
- double my graduate salary within 3 years; and
- start building my career the way that I wanted to.
These aren’t tips that only people who aced every exam at law school can follow. They’re actions that any graduate lawyer can take straight away.
1. Taking instructions
It may seem basic, but most graduate lawyers don’t know how to take instructions from their colleagues.
You know how frustrating it is to get this wrong. Imagine you ordered a cake for a party in 5 days. What if 5 days pass and you receive a donut box? Or they haven’t even started because they thought it was due in 10 days?
Unfortunately, this happens in law firms – especially when tasks are more complex than ordering a cake. And it’s never fun for us to be in that spot.
Sometimes it’s not your fault. Giving proper instructions is also a skill. But here are the steps you can take to make sure you’re handing in the right thing at the right time.
Step 1 – Write down the answers to these four things:
Background
Who are you acting for?
Any facts you should know about the matter?
Any key documents / emails you should be looking at?
Deliverables
What does your colleague need from you?
What form is the deliverable – email, formal memo, mark-ups to a document, quick chat?
Timing / budget
When does your colleague need the deliverable to review? (i.e. don’t throw them a grenade just before the client deadline)
How much time do they expect this to take / what’s the budget for your time?
Matter number?
Where should you post the time you spend on this task?
Anything in particular you should write for the narrative?
Step 2 – Read back and confirm the instructions
This is a chance to clarify anything that doesn’t make sense, and to make sure that your colleague has communicated exactly how they’d like you to help.
Step 3 – Update your colleague if anything changes
Our colleagues understand that things change throughout the day in busy legal teams. But they need to know what those changes are so that they can manage them. If you get a new urgent assignment, have a conflicting deadline, hit a dead end, find new information that changes the task, or discover new documents – let them know as soon as you can.
2. File management and version control
Law school didn’t teach us how to properly manage files or different versions of documents – but it’s a huge part of our jobs. Here are three things you can do to start off the right way:
Naming documents properly
Look at how your colleagues have already saved documents on the matter (this can vary between colleagues as they may have their own particular styles) and try to save any documents you work on in the same way.
E.g. “2021-02-28 – memo from Law Firm A re abuse of power (version 5)” or “Memo – Law Firm A – v 5 – Abuse of Power (28 February 2021)”.
Sending documents
Many document management systems used by law firms will allow only one person to ‘check out’ (i.e. edit) the document at a time. While a document is checked out, others can only access the ‘read only’ version.
When sending documents to your colleagues (e.g. so they can review your work), it’s best to send the link to the ‘master editable document’ as well as a read-only version.
That way, if there are any issues with accessing the link, or if you wanted to see how your colleague amended your work, or if anyone ever wanted to look back at the earlier draft version that you prepared – then you’ve got a record at your fingertips.
Amending documents
Most of us use Microsoft Word to edit documents. On the “Review” tab, there’s a function that lets you “Track Changes”.
Any time you’re amending documents (especially when you’re editing the master link), you should track changes so that your colleagues can see exactly what you’ve changed.
It’s also worth asking your colleagues whether you should continue the existing mark-up in the document, or accept the existing changes and show only your new amendments.
3. Preparing for and attending meetings
Going to meetings as a graduate lawyer usually means that you take notes. But there are other ways that you can add value.
- Offer to send through calendar invites / reminders for meetings.
- Ask if there are any documents you can help prepare / bring along in advance of the meeting.
- Have to hand any documents that you think may be referred to just in case there are any clarifications required.
- For virtual meetings – get there early and learn how to use the system (e.g. teleconferencing, screen share, break out rooms).
- For in-person meetings – google maps to see how to get there and when you / your colelagues should leave to arrive on time.
- Take notes but also spend some time summarising those notes after the meeting.
- Ask your partner / colleague if they’d like you to circulate an action list or summary after the meeting.
4. Research memos
Writing research memos can range from pretty fun to super stressful depending on what the question is. But there are some things you can do that will be appreciated by your colleagues even if the task ends up being a dead-end:
- Structure memos like this: “Introduction / Question -> Answer / Summary -> Explanation and Supporting Reasoning -> Conclusion”.
- Get an idea of how long you should spend on the memo before reporting back (just ask).
- Feel free to check in earlier to test the direction of your thinking or ask further questions (set a time).
- Cross-reference and attach relevant cases / sources. If possible, highlight the relevant provisions.
- If you can’t find the answer – include your resources and search terms (e.g. LexisNexis and Westlaw using terms “reasonably practic!”, “reasonable” and “practical”.
5. Managing multiple tasks
It’s pretty common to be working on different matters with a number of colleagues at any one time. This also means you’ll sometimes have conflicting deadlines that you can’t just ‘work harder’ to overcome. It can feel tough to say no when somebody asks you for help – but there’s a right way to do it:
Understand that sometimes it’s better to say no
It’s tempting to say yes to everything. You might worry that you’re missing an opportunity or letting somebody down. Sometimes you can just fit it all in by working a bit later. But sometimes you just can’t give both tasks your 100% – that’s when the deadlines affect the quality of your work. Trust me, doing quality work > doing more work every single time.
Estimate how long tasks will take
Think about the budget. Ask your colleague how much time you should spend. Give it your best guess. Then add 30% as a buffer.
Don’t get stuck in the middle
A common mistake young lawyers make is just saying “no I can’t – I’m too busy.” Instead, communicate your availability and let them know you’re open to re-prioritising.
“Sorry I’m doing this task for John right now. I think it’ll take me until about 2pm. I can help with your task afterwards if that’s okay. Otherwise, happy to re-prioritise if you can have a chat with John and let me know which one to do first.”
6. Drafting emails for colleagues to send to clients
Ghostwriting emails gives us an opportunity to learn how to properly communicate with clients, with the upside of receiving feedback and having your work checked.
Here are some of the elements of a draft email that I’ve learned to include to make it as easy as possible for your coworker to review:
- Clearly identify and attach all relevant documents (worth a double check).
- Set out and identify questions / assumptions (if any).
- Set out the recipients (“to” and “cc”).
- Identify it as a “Draft Email”.
- Include the sender’s email signature.
7. Being a proactive lawyer
In legal teams, it’s helpful to let others know when you have capacity to help out. This isn’t limited to your partner or immediate supervisors. There’s a real opportunity to expand your network by delivering work for all levels (junior lawyers, fellow grads, colleagues in the support teams etc), across offices, and across practice groups.
It’s also good to not solely focus on developing your technical skills. Getting involved in other initiatives and teams in your law firm (e.g. Business Development, Legal Tech, Precedents, Diversity and Social Committees) can help you become a more well-rounded lawyer.
8. Time recording
Want to save your colleagues time and avoid write-offs? Make sure your time entries have narratives that make sense to your client (or cost-assessor). How?
Step 1 – Ask for a copy of a finalised bill and see what sorts of narratives your colleagues have been writing (and their style).
Step 2 – Aim for concise but informative descriptions that you would be happy reviewing if you were the client. Some examples could be:
- “Reviewing contract (clauses 1-32) to develop risk register”
- “Drafting email to [client] re [insert] advice”
- “Amending [court document] following meeting with Counsel re [issue]”
- “Preparing for and attending meeting with [client] to discuss [issue]”
- “Preparing research memo for the purpose of advice re [issue]”
9. Take your work to your 100%
Nobody expects you to be able to prepare technically perfect work product from day 1. But there is an expectation that you will take the work to your own personal 100% before handing it to your supervisor or colleague. For graduate lawyers, this would be things like:
- reading through all the documents sent through with attachments;
- making sure that there aren’t obvious formatting issues (e.g. automatic cross referencing errors);
- double checking work for spelling mistakes; and
- presenting bundles of documents in an organised way.
A good mindset is to prepare work as if it would be sent out to the client without being checked. When helping your colleagues out with tasks, think of them as the client instead of a safety net.
10. Learning through mistakes
Mistakes are just part of the learning process – what’s important is to be upfront and honest about them because they can generally be fixed.
The tougher part is taking feedback seriously, but not personally. The process that I’ve found helpful is to:
- list out the lessons instead of focusing on the immediate feelings;
- take a step back and picture how you would advise your friend if they were receiving the same feedback; and
- asking for help and being open with your colleagues if you’re struggling (we’ve probably gone through the same issues).
How was that?
I’d love to hear from you:
- New lawyers – What’s the biggest thing you’re struggling with right now that I can help you with?
- Experienced lawyers – Any other tips you’d pass on to your colleagues?