In my last column, I provided some advice for an attorney considering a career in government practice. I pointed out a couple of issues a young attorney might want to consider while still in law school and while choosing what office in which to work.
OK. Let’s talk about the next step: you’ve chosen an office and begun work. You are now officially a new, freshly minted bureaucrat. Congratulations!
The main thing I would advise at this point is to recognize that, at least at first, you might be a time sink to others. Bringing you on board and up to speed takes time and energy from others, most likely supervisors or senior attorneys who have accumulated enormous portfolios of responsibility over the years. This is not to say they aren’t thrilled to have you join the office, particularly if the office is understaffed relative to its workload. But be cognizant of the fact that, even if you are a brilliant and hard-working young attorney, just the act of supervising you might require a lot of investment of time from others in the office, perhaps the very same people who hired you. You will have innumerable substantive questions. You will need guidance on where certain resources are and what certain products are supposed to look like. Your work likely will require more time and attention from your reviewers. Sometimes you will get things wrong, and your supervisor will have to catch it.
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There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. This is to be expected, particularly if the substance of the office’s work is fairly specialized. But if you want to make a good early impression, do all that you can to minimize the time sink phase and start adding real value to the office as quickly as possible. Ask yourself, “how can I make this as easy as possible on the person reviewing my work?”
Learn how your reviewers like things and give it to them that way. For example, in complex written products like briefs, would your reviewers prefer to see the shortest document possible and identify any necessary additions, or would they like for you to draft everything conceivably needed and whittle down? In written legal advice, do they want the client to see the reasoning, or just an answer? And, of course, don’t make your supervisors repeatedly correct you on the same thing.
Be prepared for the fact that the office is likely to start you on matters that aren’t exactly crucial to the survival of the republic. You’ll probably start on matters that are comparatively simple and low-risk. If you’re put on more complex matters at this early phase, it will likely be in a supporting role, with a much more experienced attorney taking primary responsibility.
I realize it might seem like I’m saying “keep your head down, realize that you are not a unique and beautiful snowflake, and do all you can to become a faceless cog in the smoothly functioning bureaucratic machine.” This might seem at odds with the reasons you’ve chosen government service. I’ve previously argued that a career as a government attorney only makes sense if you find value in the work, in and of itself. You identify with the mission and want your job to be about more than just the paycheck you take home. Isn’t that in tension with the idea that you shouldn’t be trying to leave your own personal mark on the work?
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Don’t get me wrong. I’m am not saying that you shouldn’t engage. It is good to be smart, capable, ambitious, and conscientious. And it is fine to gently communicate this to colleagues and clients through your work, demeanor, etc. My point is, particularly while you are fresh in the door, be careful that this desire to make a mark manifests as looking for opportunities to make yourself an asset to others, and thereby, an asset to the business of the office. Also, the reality is that one junior attorney is not going to reinvent the government overnight. Your objective during this career phase is to show you are someone who can reliably produce a large volume of quality work.
And if you are successful during this phase, by focusing on minimizing the burden you present to others, you help yourself. If you quickly transition from someone who is another item for overburdened superiors to manage to someone who produces well and removes burdens from others, the natural consequence will be that you will be trusted with interesting and complex matters. Before you know it, you will find that you’ve grown out of the neophyte phase and are deeply involved in the business of the agency.
The other thing I would recommend for this career phase is to find a mentor. On the surface, this is not novel advice. Regular readers of this blog will know that the importance of mentorship is a frequent subject.
But many government offices may not have formal mentoring programs, and this makes it tricky. In this scenario, you don’t have to impose yourself on someone’s attention by asking to establish a formal “mentor–mentee” relationship. Rather, spot someone with a wealth of knowledge and experience and observe them in action and talk to them about their work when appropriate.
This is likely to happen naturally for at least two reasons. First, unlike Biglaw, which has a personnel model based on attrition, the government often wants to incentivize good people to stay once they’ve learned the ropes. Second, people who work in a government law office are usually there because they think the substance of its work is important, at least on some level. These two factors combine to create an incentive for the older and more experienced attorneys to take an interest in developing the next generation.
The bottom line is that your objective in this career phase is to set yourself up as well as possible to transition to the next phase, and maximize your opportunities once you’re there.
Brian D. Griffin began his legal career as an associate in the New York office of a Biglaw firm, focusing mostly on litigation. He is currently a staff attorney in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of General Counsel. His duties include litigation, rulemaking, and programmatic legal advice. Brian attended New York University School of Law, and Georgetown University for undergraduate, majoring in Government. You can reach him at [email protected].
DISCLAIMER: The statements and views expressed in this column are entirely Griffin’s own. They do not represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States.