Associate Advice
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Advertising, Associate Advice, Biglaw, Career Center, Holidays and Seasons, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad, Travel / Vacation
Career Center: Top 5 Tips for Escaping From the Office During the Holidays
Now that Thanksgiving is almost upon us, some of you may already be thinking ahead to the winter holiday season. That’s precisely what you should be doing if you want to take more time off than just your firm’s designated holiday days. For some associates, the holidays are a good time to use your vacation […] -
Associate Advice, Biglaw, In-House Counsel, Partner Issues
House Rules: How To Get an In-House Lawyer's Attention
In this week's edition of House Rules, in-house columnist David Mowry lets our readers know how to get his attention for all of the right (and all of the wrong) reasons.... - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Antitrust, Associate Advice, Biglaw, Billable Hours, Email Scandals, Litigators, Litigatrix, Partner Issues, Screw-Ups, Skaddenfreude
An Inside Look at the Skadden Annual Review Process
Today, we take an inside look at the annual review process for attorneys at Skadden Arps. In this special report, we'll provide general observations on the Skadden review process, highlight noteworthy comments from leaked attorney evaluations, and show you a few reviews in their entirety. If you're interested in learning more about performance reviews at one of the world's biggest and best law firms, please keep reading....
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Associate Advice, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: Tell Me I Am Pretty
Small firm columnist Valerie Katz thinks that the year-end review, like the New Year's Resolution, does not work. Rather than getting feedback only once a year, you should make every day New Year's Day. Well, maybe not every day.... -
Advertising, Associate Advice, Biglaw, Career Center, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Career Center: Memo to New Associates - Welcome to Your Legal Career!
In today’s Career Center Tips Series, Lateral Link’s Frank Kimball, legal recruiter and former hiring partner, discusses the challenges that new attorneys face in today’s world. No matter what the differences will be a decade from now, it is safe to say that young lawyers will always have similar personal and professional concerns as they […] -
Associate Advice, Partner Issues, pls hndle thx
Pls Hndle Thx: The Panhandling Partner
In this week's installment of Pls Hndle Thx, Above the Law's "advice" column, a reader wants to know what to do when faced with a panhandling law firm partner. Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com. -
Associate Advice, Litigators, Partner Issues, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Supervising Partners and Teaching Partners
Recently, small firm columnist Jay Shepherd talked to a fourth-year-associate friend who'd been working at a new small firm for several months. When Shepherd asked him how it was going, his friend said "great" in a way that suggested anything but. A partner was making his friend's life a living hell. What made this partner so horrible? It wasn't so much that the partner was horrible. It was that he was merely a "supervising partner".... -
Associate Advice, Job Searches, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: The Best Advice for Networking Events
How can you go about "marketing" and "networking" as an associate? There were no courses on these arcane arts in law school. Should you make a beeline to the nearest networking event? Small firm columnist Jay Shepherd makes the case for why you shouldn't.... - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Associate Advice, Job Searches, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Thinking of Quitting? Read This First
When a small employer loses a member of the team, it's a big deal. People will remember how you leave a place almost as much as they'll remember how you worked there. Jay Shepherd has some advice on how to quit your small firm job carefully.... -
Associate Advice, Screw-Ups, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: To err is human, but you are a lawyer.
Okay, you've made a mistake. Everyone does. What's the best way of handling the situation? -
Associate Advice, English Grammar and Usage, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: 20 Ways to Write Like a Tool
Being a lawyer is like being a member of an elite club, but sounding like a lawyer is sometimes the same as sounding like a "tool." Small firm columnist Jay Shepherd has come up with 20 lawyerisms that do nothing to advance the message lawyers are trying to send, and do, in fact, make lawyers sound like complete tools in their writing. -
Associate Advice, In-House Counsel, Small Law Firms, Sports
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Tell Them Why the Trains Are Late
As you probably know, the Boston Bruins won their first Stanley Cup since the Nixon Administration. I’m no kind of hockey fan, but as a Boston sports fan, I took a passing interest in it. Which is to say that I watched Game 7 on Wednesday. Mine was a short ride on the bandwagon. (I […] -
Associate Advice, Job Searches, Labor / Employment, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: You Know What Kind of Law You Want to Practice. Now What?
I’m under the impression that many of our readers are looking for a new job, or at least thinking about it. Some of you are still in law school and haven’t lined something up yet. Others have been laid off by a firm and are trying to find a replacement gig. Still others are unhappy […]
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Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so…
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use.
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
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Associate Advice, Biglaw, General Counsel, In-House Counsel
Inside Straight: A Disquisition On Pile-O'-Crap Syndrome
Pile-o’-crap syndrome: We’ve all been victimized by it. In private practice, it arrives in the form of four boxes of documents (containing about 2000 pages each) delivered to your door with a single handwritten note of explanation: “Here are the documents you’ll need to prepare Smith for his deposition on Wednesday.” What does that note […] -
Associate Advice, Screw-Ups, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: Sorry About This Post
Have you ever messed something up for a client? Ever make a mistake that was yours and yours alone, that caused your client a problem and you and your firm some embarrassment? If you haven’t, then you haven’t been practicing very long. Because you can’t practice for a long time without making some mistakes. It’s […] -
Associate Advice, Headhunters / Recruiters, Job Searches, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: Why Some Small Firms And Small-Firm Lawyers Need Matchmakers
There is a neighborhood in Chicago that smells like chocolate. The reason is due to Blommer Chocolate Company’s Chicago factory. I have never been inside, but according to a documentary I once saw regarding chocolate factories, inside there is a chocolate river, Oompa Loompas, and an eccentric chocolatier. Much to my surprise, there was an […] -
Associate Advice, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: Tips for Becoming A Small-Firm Superstar
I have become obsessed with LinkedIn lately (and not just because of their recent IPO). I am trying to become one of those people with the 500+ connections. So I troll the website for potential contacts on an hourly basis. Yesterday, I found a few guys with whom I had gone to law school. These […] -
Associate Advice, Job Searches, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: 10 Traits That Will Get You Hired
It’s very difficult to get a job as an associate in a small law firm. First of all, there is a lot of competition. Many of you are between jobs. Many are at Biglaw jobs looking to get out. Many of you are finishing up law school and are still looking. Don’t get me wrong: […] -
Associate Advice, Rudeness, Small Law Firms
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: The Problem with Lawyer Letters
Have you ever noticed that some lawyers become different people when they get in front of a keyboard? It’s like a Jekyll-and-Hyde kind of thing. They might be perfectly pleasant individuals in real life, capable of warmth or at least civility to their fellow human beings. But get them in front of a computer with […] -
Associate Advice, Labor / Employment, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners
Small Firms, Big Lawyers: When Should You Start Your Own Firm?
There comes a time in the career of every law-firm lawyer when she realizes that her bosses are acting like idiots, that “they’re doing it wrong,” and that she could do a better job if she were running her own law firm. Most of the time, that idea goes no further: the lawyer rattles off […]