How Law Interns Must Achieve Legal Professionalism

Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, you are about to shed your identity of "student" and assume, instead, the identity of "professional." This article shows you how to achieve the professionalism you need to win the respect of clients and colleagues alike.

Adapting To Law Office Culture


The transition from school to office may be easy for students who worked in other professional environments. But for young interns with no professional work history, entering a law office can be somewhat like entering a new culture, perhaps work from the student culture they have always known. Inexperienced interns need to prepare themselves for some degree of what sociologists call shock. The strangeness of it all can be highly energizing.

In a private law firm, the business suit (or its "blazer" facsimile) usually prevails. However, in offices serving middle- and low-income populations, such a formal appearance can alienate clients. In those settings, attorneys and paralegals sometimes dress more informally for meeting with clients. For the legal aid assistant interviewing an elderly couple at their home or the public defender intern interviewing a defendant in prison, the often-recommended blazer might occasionally be worn over a pair of jeans. Attire in other offices, such as government agencies, falls somewhere between these extremes.

The key is to observe how the professionals in your office tend to dress and take your cues from them. Imitate your most respected coworkers. If you ever accompany an attorney to court or have to meet an important official, be prepared to make a crisp, professional appearance regardless of what else the day may hold.

In law offices and other professional settings, a high level of courtesy is expected from every staff member, including interns. Courtesy is shown in how you relate to others, by the words you choose in communicating with those around you, and in the manner in which you resolve conflicts that arise. Courtesy and consideration to others help create a reputation of credibility among your coworkers. So does your ability to meet deadlines successfully. These elements of courtesy and credibility are explained in the sections that follow.

The Power of Words

The words you use and the way in which you use them may have a greater impact than you realize. For effective communications at the office, be conscious of the words you use and chose them wisely.

You must be genuinely pleasant to everyone you meet at the office. A friendly "hi" or "good morning" to the people you know and occasional social chitchat make it that much easier to ask procedural questions or get help from them later.

In work-related conversations, never forget those mundane but crucial words please, thank you, and, when needed, an honest I'm sorry said with a smile. Use those words with everyone in the office, from cleaning staff to managing partner. Become known as someone who treats coworkers with courtesy and respect regardless of their position, and you will be treated the same.

When misunderstandings occur (and they inevitably do), there are three responses to avoid:
 

1. saying nothing;
2. saying too much; and above all,
3. assuming the worst without verification.

Honoring Work Schedules and Deadlines

Imagine that your supervisor gives you your first assignment with instructions to have it completed by Thursday of this week. Do you nod in agreement, thinking, "I suppose I can do that if nothing else comes up in the meantime ... "? If your internship schedule calls for your arrival at the office by 1:00 P.M., do you saunter in around 1:20? An intern who fits either of these descriptions has not yet become part of the professional culture and can anticipate serious problems.

In the classroom, schedules have to be honored and, if they are not, your grade usually suffers for it. In the office, the consequences involve far more than grades. Not honoring work schedules and due dates can have catastrophic results. For example, your delayed arrival delays others who are waiting for you. Missed due dates create embarrassment to your office. Even worse, a major transaction may be lost, a statute of limitations deadline might be missed, and the office may be liable to the client for the harm this caused.

Meeting deadlines is a key feature of all law-related services. From the very beginning, one of the main things your supervisor will want from you is an appreciation for the potential seriousness of work schedules and of every deadline. An intern who fails to take these things seriously will never be considered for permanent employment and will have difficulty winning positive recommendations for employment elsewhere.

If you are unable to begin your workday on time or if it becomes apparent that you cannot complete an assignment on time, do not keep the problem to yourself. Let your supervisor know of the difficulty right away so that adjustments can be made. By making the problem known early enough for something to be done about it, you can prevent a host of problems for yourself and others. You will also be seen as more responsible and professional than if you had silently allowed the deadline to pass.

The intern who completes assignments fully and on time is valued by supervisors and coworkers alike. When this intern says an assignment will be done by a certain date, everyone feels secure in knowing that it will be done as promised. This is the intern who wins glowing letters of recommendation, a sound reputation in the legal community, and eventual job offers.

The key to professional credibility is making every promise count. Carry to completion whatever assignments you have agreed to perform-and avoid accepting assignments you know you cannot carry out.

Conflict Resolution in a Nutshell

Resolvable conflicts arise from time to time in every work setting. No imally, such conflicts occur when a coworker's professional interests appear D be at odds with yours. For example, a secretary may resent the additiona workload your temporary presence represents. A law associate may see you as competition for the office's limited hiring options. A paralegal with le IB education may feel threatened or intimidated.

With ordinary conflicts such as these, you almost always have the p iwer to resolve conflicts and turn them into something positive.

Effective conflict resolution involves four steps:
 

1. listening to the concerns of the other person, allowing him or her to express those cc icerns freely; (2) acknowledging the validity of the other person's feelings and getting an accurate understanding of them;
2. evaluating competing interests for a way to resolve them; and
3. negotiating a solution.

Conflicts You Cannot Resolve Alone

When difficulties with a supervisor, coworker, or client are more serious, the intern may need the advice and support of the school's program director. If an intern faces what appears to be sexual harassment, discrimination, unethical or criminal conduct of a coworker, or a pattern of verbal abuse, expert advice is required. Moreover, the school's program director needs to know about such conduct-to assist the intern effectively and also to protect the integrity of the school's internship program.

If others are busy and you are not, do not wait for someone to stop and tell you what to do. Look to see where help is needed, and volunteer.

Experienced paralegals understand the need to be flexible about work assignments. In a small or solo law practice, everyone has to be prepared to assume different roles at different times. In any office, the paralegal has to anticipate emergency developments and changing circumstances.

The paralegal intern has additional reasons for being adaptable. Unyielding expectations about what you will do blinds you to new learning opportunities. Rigid expectations can also label you "uncooperative" and unwilling to pitch in when needed. These results seriously undercut your on-site learning as well as your long-term career objectives.