It’s Time To Say Goodbye To Water Cooler Training

It’s high time to reconsider whether the old training by osmosis approach, the learning by hanging around the water cooler notion, is going to work any longer, particularly in the age of AI.

You know the argument: let’s get their butts in the office because that’s critical for the training of younger lawyers. The idea is they will come to the office, hang around, bump into a senior partner at the water cooler and somehow absorb some great truths about the practice that they wouldn’t otherwise get. 

But what actually happens is a bit different. The associate comes to the office, goes to their personal space, closes the door and works. They might come up for air here and there and get a cup of coffee but that’s only for a moment. Then it’s back to the grindstone. And the partners are doing the same, all in pursuit of billing hours to meet artificial quotas set by firm management.

The Impact Of AI

And that was before AI. I read a recent article in Business Insider by Aki Ito that talked about the impact of AI on work and in-office collaboration. The point of the article was that the things for which workers used to seek out colleagues to get help with or to run by is now done by AI. Instead of going next door and talking through a problem, workers just ask ChatGPT — or its equivalent — for answers. That is dramatically reducing the amount and nature of worker interaction.

And these interactions are valuable. As a practicing lawyer, I would often run ideas by colleagues even if it was just to hear my proposals and ideas out loud. Many times I would get halfway through my spiel, stop, and say never mind. Because, in speaking it out loud, I realized it wasn’t all that great.

Moreover, according to the article and some studies it cites, the less actual interactions, the less workers trust their human colleagues. And, sadly, that workers are turning to AI rather than colleagues for performance feedback. 

The fabric of work, where we at least get to talk to other people about our problems or even just to vent, is unraveling. And that talking (and venting), says the article, was what made work more tolerable and meaningful. It made for a happier work environment.

It’s All The More Problematic For Lawyers

All of this is a particular problem for lawyers and particularly litigators. I’m fond of pointing out something one of my client representatives used to say: let’s be careful we don’t end up in the closet talking to ourselves too much. He meant, of course, that we need to say things to one another and get feedback from others to create the best product. For litigators and trial lawyers, our best product and the most persuasive arguments are those that resonate with other humans. What better way to get that resonating product than by talking to human colleagues and getting their views. Or just seeing their reaction: what did their body language suggest? Were they bored? Did they understand the argument being made? Did it move them?

These are human reactions. They can’t be replaced by a bot that all too often tells us what we want to hear.

And these interactions are indeed important to younger lawyers. When I was a first- or second-year associate, I would often seek advice from a more senior associate or even administrative staff on how to do things. For background. To review some idea I had. To understand the idiosyncrasies of the firm or a particular partner. It was how I and many younger lawyers learned. 

And by doing multiple drafts for exacting senior partners, I learned how to write persuasively and, indeed, the sometimes laborious process of creating good work product.

But wait, you say. Didn’t you start off by saying that having young lawyers come to the office was not particularly worthwhile. That’s not exactly what I meant. 

My point was that having young lawyers come to the office without more doesn’t necessarily teach them anything. And now with AI, the lack of teaching and training will be even worse. As the Business Insider article pointed out, we are all forsaking human work interactions due to the siren call of AI.

The old way was easy. It didn’t require thought, planning, and analysis. Or time. But it’s not going to work anymore. If we demand everyone come to the office and then let them float in an AI world with their office doors closed and heads down, we will end up with associates with heads full of mush. 

What Can We Do

Most importantly, as with any problem, we have to start by recognizing that we actually have a problem. We have to admit that the old notion that informal interactions at the water cooler will adequately train younger lawyers will no longer work. It was a myth before AI and it’s certainly a myth now.

Then, we have to work to replace the informal water cooler with more formal and designed training that creates the opportunities for interaction between associates and between associates and partners. Structured training ensures that training will actually happen and that all will get the training, not just those who are lucky enough to be at the water cooler at the right time. We have to set aside the myopic focus on billable hours and commit to nonbillable time to create the training and the interactions that are needed.

Lastly, we have to recognize that AI, while it provides tremendous opportunities for younger lawyers and for all of us, can’t be left in a vacuum. Showing younger lawyers how and why AI outputs are wrong or don’t fit the situation at hand is important. This requires greater mentoring and thought on the part of management and partners. 

And for partners, they themselves have to search out the kinds of interactions with each other I experienced and described. They have to recognize the value of AI along with the value of the human interactions to create the great product and, for that matter, a better work environment. 

Otherwise, when it comes down to persuading other humans, which is the heart of our business, our arguments will sound like they came from AI and won’t be convincing. Nor will it create and further the trust which is at the heart of a good attorney-client relationship.

They will sound like what they are: something that came from AI, not our hearts.

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Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes TechLaw Crossroads, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.