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Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks: Practical Advice For New Lawyers

I asked if my administrative assistant could help on a project. My assistant said, “No, I can’t” and looked away. I am not supposed to do administrative work. What now?

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ATLSLFBSLogoQ: I asked if my administrative assistant could help on a project. My assistant said, “No, I can’t” and looked away. I am not supposed to do administrative work. What now?

A: That sounds disconcerting. You must talk. Presumably you did the work yourself or found someone else to do it. But that is not a long-term solution. Something is going on, and you need to address it.

You may have asked for something that was impossible to complete in the time required. Your assistant could have a stressful personal challenge. Or, less likely, your assistant might be testing you. There may be any number of other explanations. Whatever the reason, you have to find out.

Law firms can be stressful places. But “no” – without an explanation or an offer to find someone else to help – is not an acceptable answer. You and your assistant need to clear the air.

It may seem easier to ignore the situation and move on. But if you routinely do significant administrative work, you will hinder your growth as a lawyer. The quality and efficiency of your projects will also suffer. Your assistant should be far more adept at administrative tasks than you are. In a crisis, you need to do whatever is necessary. But doing your assistant’s job cannot be the default.

Reflect on how you interact with your assistant. Are you always respectful? Do you communicate expectations clearly? Do you thank your assistant profusely? These are all critical for an optimal relationship. Think about whether you could change your approach.

Talk to other lawyers about how they work with administrative staff. Lawyers who share the same assistant can give you advice on handling the situation. Your mentor and professional development staff can also help, if you have those resources. Human Resources staff members are also a potential option, but take care not to turn one blip into an HR incident.

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Once you have the perspective of others in your office, set up a short meeting with your assistant about how you can work better together. If you kick off the meeting by talking about “the incident,” it is not likely to go well. The meeting needs to be a discussion about working together, not an inquisition.

Start by asking what your assistant needs from you. You may need to give your assistant more lead-time. You may need to be more specific with your requests. Do your best to give your assistant the benefit of the doubt.

At some point in the conversation, you do need to explain your concerns about the “no” response. Avoid accusations, but address the issue directly. Silence is the voice of complicity.

Before you end the conversation, talk through in detail how you will each handle similar situations in the future.

And always show respect and appreciation.

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Good luck!

HeadshotBWLPM1Grover E. Cleveland is a Seattle lawyer, speaker and author of Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks: The Essential Guide to Thriving as a New Lawyer (West 2010). He is a former partner at Foster Pepper PLLC, one of the Northwest’s larger firms. His clients included the Seattle Seahawks and other entities owned by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen. Grover is a frequent presenter on new lawyer career success at law schools and firms nationwide. Some of the questions in this column come from those presentations. Readers may submit questions here or follow him on Twitter @Babysharklaw. He is not related to the 22nd and 24th President of the United States.

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