(Opens in a new window)In the not so distant past, the spectrum of possible “career paths” for new lawyers was both fairly well-defined and fairly limited. Most people entering the industry knew that they were either going to join a big firm and try to get on the “fast” track for partnership, or that they’d work at said firm for a few years before transitioning over to the legal department of one of the firm’s clients. But that was it. Those were the basically the only options for new lawyers hoping to live the legal dream.
Today, however, such longstanding traditions between firms and incoming associates have largely disappeared. Now, the number of possible career paths is nearly as diverse and individualized as the number of new lawyers seeking professional advancement.
In order to dig deeper into the dynamics of this apparent cultural change in law firms, we have partnered with our friends at Major Lindsey & Africa(Opens in a new window) to run a series of (very brief, we promise) surveys designed to capture the perspective of lawyers in various stages of their careers. In this survey (the second of three), we examine “Goals(Opens in a new window),” with the hopes of understanding more about the motivations behind both internal and external transitions associates may make on their way to “the dream gig.” Please take a couple of minutes and share your thoughts here(Opens in a new window). (Please note we are not exclusively interested in hearing from millennials; lawyers of all ages are encouraged to take the survey(Opens in a new window).)
If you have not taken the first survey in our series, “Priorities(Opens in a new window),” please feel free to do so here.