Millennial lawyers: what are we going to do about you? You’re a new breed, and your differing values and priorities have law firm leaders alternating between scratching their heads in confusion and wringing their hands in frustration.
In my last column, I had a long talk with managing partners about you and helped them sort out their mixed feelings about — and hopefully gain an appreciation of — your generation. Now it’s your turn. It’s time for some arguably uncomfortable navel-gazing on your part.
Like it or not, the onus doesn’t rest solely with the managing partners; you’ve got to meet them halfway. For now, it’s the only way you’re going to find success within the law firm structure they helped create and that they continue to perpetuate now that they’re members of the ruling class.
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Good news! You’ve got someone on your side. It’s Susan Smith Blakely, the author of the recently published book, “What Millennial Lawyers Want.” She’s got lots of ideas to help managing partners understand millennial lawyers — and to help you understand them. So without further ado, here’s what you need to know.
First and foremost, you need to be a team player, even when it’s inconvenient. Partners often complain that you’re not committed and fail to come through when an important deadline is fast approaching. According to Blakely, it’s at times like those when you need to stop making excuses, push up your sleeves, and get to work:
Millennial lawyers…cannot be the team players they claim to be and fail the team. They must understand that when the team needs them, they have to put their shoulders to the wheel and push hard along with everyone else. If they do not become team players, they will not be taken seriously, and they will damage their opportunities for upward mobility.
Next, enough with the need for instant gratification! Sure you grew up online, where instantaneous feedback was the norm, but that’s not how it works in law firms. Similarly, while you may be the most comfortable networking electronically, there’s something to be said about face-to-face interaction. It’s what your superiors — and most potential clients — are used to. So you need to embrace both online and offline networking. Here’s what Blakely has to say about that:
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To gain a healthy perspective, millennial lawyers need to laugh with people and laugh at themselves. They need to get out of their offices, engage in conversation, smile, laugh, and let others get to know them and enjoy their company. If it means escaping their comfort zones, they just need to do it. It will pay premiums in both their personal and professional lives.
And last but not least, take responsibility for seeking out and maintaining relationships with mentors. While mentorship is a two-way street, it benefits you far more than your mentor, so you should take ownership of the relationship. In the book, a millennial lawyer explained why it’s so important for you to take this step:
(W)hen you’re assigned a mentor…(you have to take it upon yourself) to seek out (your) mentor…Because lawyers are so busy, your mentor – unless you have an amazing mentor – is not going to chase after you. So you really have to put effort into maintaining the relationship. (I)t’s really up to the mentee to drive that and seek that out.
In other words, the ball’s in your court. If you want to succeed within the structure of a traditional law firm, then you’re going to have to conform, at least in some ways, to the expectations of your managing partners.
That being said, you bring a lot of valuable resources to the table and the many positive attributes of you and your generation should not be overlooked. Your unique perspective is what sets you apart, but don’t let it drag you down. Instead, use it to your benefit, and use it to change the profession for the better.
You don’t have to lose sight of what makes you and your generation different in order to thrive in the law firm setting. You can undoubtedly succeed on your own terms, within reason. But sometimes you have to play by the rules — at least until you’re in a position to change them.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter @nikiblack and she can be reached at [email protected].