LATERAL LINK

As soon as a young attorney gets a job offer and begins working, networking typically takes a backseat until a new job search begins. This fact is not surprising. Junior associates must maintain high billable hours, participate in countless training and CLE events, and are still required to attend various non-billable firm events. While networking is not mutually exclusive from the daily tasks of a junior associate, it still deserves some individual and active attention from time to time.

In order to succeed and be truly satisfied with your Biglaw career, you will need to do more than to simply be a great attorney. There are thousands of talented and hard-working attorneys out there who leave the world of Biglaw jaded, unhappy, and unfilled. Yes Biglaw may not be the end-all for everyone, but there are many attorneys that play the Biglaw game, and play it well. By utilizing networking skills and tactics while working at a Biglaw firm, a young associate can increase his or her chances of succeeding AND being satisfied.

There are two basic goals that are common for associates in large law firms: making partner and getting better assignments. Below are some tips that are derived from basic networking skills that you should use when trying to achieve either goal.

GOAL: Becoming partner

1. Volunteer within your firm – Be sure to attend firm-sponsored events or meetings. If the firm needs attorneys to attend a firm charity event or to participate in recruiting or pro bono activities, be one of the first ones to volunteer. Attending these events and being involved demonstrates your commitment to the firm in the long run. Additionally, partners consider the associate who is busy billing hours and attending firm events as too busy to look for another job. With firms adding more offices and going global, it is getting harder for an associate to become visible outside his or her respective practice group. By being involved and attending firm events, you will make yourself visible to partners that you may never meet face-to-face, but who will still be making partnership decisions. Better to be known for being the go-getter and an associate committed to the firm, than not being known at all.  
2. Get involved outside the firm – In addition to being involved internally, don’t forget about your presence outside the firm. While several attorneys view the local bar association as a social marketplace that only benefits solos and small law attorneys, Biglaw attorneys should also be involved. The local bar association can help improve your brand and notoriety. As we all know, attorneys like to talk, and one of the most important things that defines the success of an attorney is his or her reputation. While it is important to be well-known and liked within your own firm, it is equally important to have those credentials in the legal community at-large. When making partnership decisions, partners will focus on your contributions to your firm, but will also ask their trusted contemporaries outside the firm for their advice and perceptions of you. Being unknown outside the firm is not detrimental, but having positive legal standing outside the firm will be a major benefit. Your popularity will demonstrate your ability to bring in new clients, to work with outside counsel, and to be known as an expert in your area of practice.  
3. Become indispensible to the firm – Don’t be afraid to make suggestions and offer solutions when the opportunity arises. Even though firms are getting larger and associates can sometimes view themselves as mere cogs in the big firm machine, in the end, the people ultimately make or break a law firm’s success. There are going to be policies and systems that are institutionalized and will never change, and there will be partners who are not open to new ideas; however, there are several partners out there that appreciate independent thinkers and proactive associates. For example, if a timekeeping strategy is inefficient and you have a better option, don’t be afraid to share it. If you created a template or a spreadsheet that keeps you organized, tell a partner. I have come across many successful associates that have offered suggestions and solutions with positive results. Yes, some partners may not have been as receptive to new ideas as others (which is more on the unreceptive partner than on the proactive attorney), but I have never come across an associate that got fired for making a suggestion and being proactive. Just be sure to use the proper tone when offering suggestions and do so at the proper moment (i.e. don’t offer a suggestion on a more efficient strategy at the zero hour of a trial while in front of the client).
4. Be nice – This should be common sense and a non-issue, but I am still surprised with countless stories of junior attorneys who act like jerks, especially with support staff. Even if you graduated at the top of your class at the best law school, odds are most partners will view you as less important than their secretary or paralegal that they have worked with for over 10 years. Your J.D. provides you with a license to practice law, not a license to be a jerk. There are several stories of young hotshot attorneys who are shocked to find themselves kicked to the curb after arguing with a secretary or being disrespectful to a file clerk. It should also go without saying that the support staff can also make or break your career, especially if you want to be partner. You will be surprised at how much weight the opinions of the support staff have on partnership and retention decisions. This also holds true with fellow and younger associates. You may feel that some form of “work hazing” is warranted when it comes to more junior associates, but you never know if that junior associate might become partner before you or be in a better position in a different firm you are trying to work at. In short, be nice.

GOAL: Getting better work assignments

1. Do your research – If you want to work with a specific client, do additional research and keep tabs on that client. This is also important if you want to work for a practice group with one or two major clients. Check the daily news for stories about the client, whether or not it is directly related to the work your firm is doing for that client. Another good source is the staff and fellow associates who might be doing work for that client. Don’t expect to get any confidential information from them, but you can try and gauge how the work is as well as what are the needs and expectations of the client. If you come across a noteworthy article about the client and feel comfortable, forward that article to the partner working for that client. This will demonstrate your genuine interest in the client and might provide an opportunity for future work that you can handle. But be careful not to spam the partner and don’t send links to blogs that don’t provide substantive information on the client. Nothing infuriates partners more than useless information, especially if they think you are not working on something that benefits the firm and are wasting time sending pointless emails. 
2. Follow partners you want to work for without stalking – If there is a practice group or partner you want to work for, approach the situation as you would a potential date. Find out their likes and dislikes, let them know you are interested, and be different from your counterparts at the office. Read any articles authored by the partner, attend a seminar or CLE training session hosted by the partner, be updated on recent cases or deals the partner has been involved with. Then engage the partner. Like a job interview, you will need talking points and an ability to carry a conversation about those work matters. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask the partner if he or she needs assistance on a case or a deal, but be sure your schedule allows for it and that you have developed a sufficient rapport with the partner. If the partner barely knows what group you are already in, let alone your name, odds are he or she is not going to trust you with one of his or her assignments. 
3. Be liked – Obviously you want to be liked by the partners, but don’t forget about the support staff and fellow associates in the practice group. While seeking work from a particular partner or practice group, remember that you may be treading on another associate’s turf. If work is hard to come by or if you work in an intense work environment, an associate of the practice group you are interested in may not appreciate some new competition. Be conscious and respectful to those concerns and try to develop a relationship with that associate. You might find out that extra work is available or that an associate is trying to get out of that practice group. Plus, you need friends in that practice group to tell you what a partner is looking for, the preferred format of assignments, and other valuable insights.
4. Make your intentions known – Don’t expect assignments or a switch to a new practice group to happen automatically. Even if you are well-liked and your firm is willing to accommodate you, the right people at your firm need to know what you want. Be sure to convey your desire to switch practice groups, your desire to work on a particular client’s case, or your interest in a certain assignment. Several associates mistakenly think that their work will speak for itself and they will be rewarded for it. While it is true that firms try to reward its associates for good work, firms cannot give the rewards you want if the right people don’t know what rewards you are looking for. This maybe a touchy subject, especially if you are afraid of offending a partner or senior associate in your current practice group. Additionally, you might be at a firm where there is a power struggle among partners, so you might have to do some politicking as part of your approach. Ask other associates at the firm and see if they were able to switch practice groups or get better assignments, and find out how they did it. In the end, know that there are many factors that are beyond your control and getting better work assignments or switching practice groups at your current firm may truly be impossible.