This column has already discussed at length how lousy it can be to work at many law firms. Indeed, associates are usually squeezed financially outside of Biglaw, and managers rarely listen to the opinions of more junior attorneys of a firm. One of the best things about starting my own solo practice is not having to deal with the bureaucracy and politics present at many legal shops.
While working as an associate at several different law firms, one of the most miserable yearly events were annual job evaluations. Oftentimes, these reviews were a complete waste of time, and served no other purpose than to satisfy some requirement that attorneys reflect on their work at least once a year. However, there is no reason why annual reviews can’t be an enriching experience, and if law firms kept a few things in mind, they could greatly improve this process.
Most of the partners I worked with “phoned it in” during the attorney evaluation process. Evaluation meetings were often scheduled weeks or even months after managers said they would take place, and comments conveyed by managers at these meetings were often extremely general in nature. Most of the time, the people conducting the reviews never had any involvement with my work, and managers just rounded up random partners who happened to be in the office on the assigned day managers felt evaluations should take place.
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I completely understand why firms would not want to devote too many resources to the evaluation process. The more time managers spend reviewing associates, the less time they can devote to billing hours. Each firm only has a limited amount of bandwidth to dedicate to assisting clients or various administrative tasks.
However, attorney evaluations are very significant to associates, since this is usually the only time partners and managers reflect on their work in any meaningful way. Furthermore, associates usually need to spend time writing a self-evaluation prior to meeting with partners about their job performance. It is extremely demoralizing if partners who don’t oversee your work conduct reviews, and if no specific examples of both good and bad work are discussed at the meeting. If managers want to have meaningful attorney reviews, and not just check a box to feel good about themselves, they need to put in some effort and show associates that they take the review process seriously.
For one, partners who actually manage an associate’s work should run the review. At some firms where I worked, the managing partner who had absolutely no involvement with my work often ran evaluation meetings. It is impossible to have a frank and open discussion with a partner about an associate’s performance if the partner has no familiarity with the work performed. During many of my reviews, partners who I did not work with would simply relate that I had a good attitude and was liked around the office. Such comments are not useful at all when trying it improve as an attorney, and attorney reviews should be conducted by people who are most familiar with your work.
Also, partners should not view attorney reviews as one-sided discussions, and should be open to suggestions themselves. This column has already discussed how partners (as well as many other people) have trouble taking constructive criticism. However, any partners hoping to improve their firms should be open to receiving suggestions during reviews, which is usually the only time associates and partners can have frank conversations about improvement. Although partners typically say they are open to suggestions, in reality, most hate receiving advice and get defensive about any points for improvement.
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Time and again, I have sat in attorney reviews, and have seen partners smile when I talked about how great a firm is and how well partners treat associates. However, when the conversation turns to advice for the firm to improve, you can tell by the partners’ body language and defensive statements that they are not open to suggestions.
I remember one time, I told partners during a review that they should implement a way that associates can provide feedback anonymously. I had a buddy who worked at a shop that had an “honesty box” where employees could submit anonymous comments, and from what I heard, the effort boosted morale. Although this seemed like a simple system to implement, the partners balked at this idea, and said that anyone should feel free to give advice publicly. However, their own reaction to my advice evidenced the blowback that could be received from providing criticism without anonymity.
At another firm where I worked, associates were so afraid of receiving backlash from suggestions that no one wanted to inform management that the IRS had recently upped the mileage reimbursement amount! Although partners at this firm expressed all the time that they were open to suggestions, associates were so scared of providing advice, they didn’t even want to inform managers about a clear change in the rules. In any case, if partners are unwilling to listen to suggestions, and create a climate in which advice is frowned upon, then attorney evaluation meetings will be an even bigger waste of time.
Of course, it makes sense why firms would have attorney evaluations and set up meetings during which associates and partners can talk about how they can improve. Reflection is important when trying to better a firm. However, these meetings only work if partners devote enough time to adequately review associates and are genuinely willing to receive feedback themselves.
Jordan Rothman is the Managing Attorney of The Rothman Law Firm, a New Jersey and New York litigation boutique. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at [email protected].