The Two Most Important Rules for Associates to Get Along with Supervising Attorneys

It’s ironic. If you want to move ahead in your career, if you want to be in a position to give orders, you need to show how good you are at taking orders first. The way you handle your supervising attorney and other people in authority has a tremendous effect on your early career. Let’s see what you need to know.

1. If you’re working at a private firm, the partners are your first clients. Treat them accordingly.


Boy, is this an old chestnut. I heard it everywhere. As a lawyer at Proskauer Rose commented, “When you start, your clients aren’t just the companies and people who hire the firm to work for them. The partners who pay your salary are your clients as well.” A lawyer at Wyatt Tarrant points out that “At a large firm in particular, your partner ‘client base’ provides the work that allows you to develop professionally and establish a reputation, first within the firm, and then outside.”

With that in mind, what should you do?

First of all, lawyers at Wyatt Tarrant advise you to “Put yourself in the partner’s shoes and think about how you would want to be treated and the quality of the work you would want to see. That’s what you’d do for a client, and it’s what you should do for a partner.” The way to get great work is to do great work. Make your work product excellent. As one Carlton Fields’ attorney says, “If you make your partner look good, they’ll make you look good. Partners talk. They’ll say, ‘He’s really good, use him.’ It’s a great way to develop your reputation and get great work.”

The flip side of that is to make sure you avoid embarrassing your partner. If there are holes in your research, if you mistreat support staffers or act inappropriately in front of a client or at a social event, it will reflect badly on your supervising attorney. You want people’s reaction to be that your supervisor is lucky to have you. Remember that next time people are banging kamikazes at the firm picnic, or you’re too busy to shepardize!

You should also be mindful of cultural differences when you’re dealing with very senior attorneys. They grew up in a very different world than you did, and you want to be mindful of what makes them comfortable. As one attorney reflects, “As a new associate I gradually grew to realize that many older lawyers are uncomfortable with one-on-one lunches, especially with members of the opposite sex or with people young enough to be their children. It’s a cultural thing, but it helps to respect it. Invite a group of people or include a peer.”

Finally, treat your superiors with respect. Maybe you don’t think much of somebody’s intellect or you don’t like their company a whole bunch. But the fact is, they’ve made it for years in a tough profession, and that merits at least some respect. And if they’re partners, they’re the ones who are bringing in the business that pays your check. Treat them as you’d want to be treated in the same position!

CAREER LIMITING MOVE

Large firm in California. A female senior partner makes plans to take three junior associates to a professional women's group, a very exclusive organization, for a luncheon meeting where a national speaker is going to give a lecture. The partner springs for the tickets, which are $75 each. Fifteen minutes before the four of them are due to leave the office, one of the associates calls and leaves a voice mail saying, "I can't make it." The other two are no-shows. The partner, concerned that the three associates are too loaded down with work to go with her, tracks down one of their secretaries to try and find out who the associate is working for. When the partner asks the secretary about the associate, the secretary responds, "Oh, she's not working. She went shopping for makeup with ..." and she names the other two associates.

2. How to work with your supervising attorney and make it easy on both of you!

a. Get advice in advance of working with a new supervisor.

Before you start to work for somebody new, check around to get tips on working with them. Ask other associates, secretaries, or your mentor (if you have one), about what the supervising attorney likes to see, what his/her style is like. You can smooth over a lot of misunderstandings and false steps by doing a simple “audience analysis” first.

b. Be flexible in your working style.

A lawyer at Latham and Watkins points out that you need to be flexible and be able to adapt to a variety of working styles, especially in firms where you’re unassigned for a while at the beginning. The hours you work, the way you write, how you communicate— you’ll find that this varies for every supervising attorney. You may be touchy-feely; your supervisor may be very matter-of-fact. Talk to him the way he talks. You need to make yourself a “legal chameleon.” Your supervising attorney will be more comfortable with you if you do.

c. Pay attention to your supervisor’s hobbies.

Look at the photos and memorabilia that (s)he keeps at the office. Pay attention to what your supervisor talks about with the most enthusiasm. With these interests in mind, pay attention when you hear something about those hobbies and interests on TV or on the radio, or when you see something about them in magazines or on web sites or in the newspaper. Clip articles that you find. Everybody appreciates people who take interest in them as a person, including your supervisor.

d. Figure out the traits that your supervisor values most in him* self/herself, and pay honest compliments in those areas.

Everybody has something they’re particularly proud of. If your supervisor is a great writer or an excellent speaker or a particularly creative problem solver, compliment them about that trait when you see evidence of it. Everybody appreciates sincere flattery. When you pay someone an honest compliment, you’re not being a brown-noser. You’re acknowledging something you respect, and people appreciate that.

e. If your boss is normally nice and suddenly snaps at you for no apparent reason, don’t take it too personally.

Don’t take every glare, sharp intake of breath, or harsh word personally. Remember, your supervisor has stresses on his life just as you do on yours. Don’t try to read your supervisor’s mind. You can’t always know what’s going on, and when your supervisor snaps at you out of thin air, it’s a good idea to accept the fact that the outburst is the result of something you don’t know about.

f. Be sensitive to your supervisor’s workload.

No matter how much you have on your plate, it’s safe to assume that your supervisor has more. When you have questions for them, get to the point. As Denver’s Jennifer Loud Ungar says, “They don’t want to hear the long version of anything!” Syracuse’s Alex Epsilanty advises you similarly to “Leave your oratory skills at the door.” When you write for your supervisor, make your prose spare (unless you know definitively that they like long, flowery writing—which they probably don't). When you have questions to ask, make a list of them and think about exactly what you’re going to say ahead of time, so that you don’t wear your supervisor out. And when you’ve got an issue you want addressed, watch your timing. As Kathleen Brady points out, “You’ve got to pay attention to the signals you get. If you walk into your supervisor’s office and they’re frantic, assume that your issue is a lower priority. Don’t drop it in their lap at that moment. Say, ‘I’ve got an issue, you look crazed, let me know when you have five minutes to discuss it.’ Otherwise, you’ll dump your problem on them, they’ll be angry, and you won’t get what you want.”

g. Send your supervisor a weekly memo.

Write a weekly memo to your group head, assigning partner, or supervisor listing all of the projects you’ve been assigned, their status, any deadlines, and your availability for the next week. By writing this memo, you and your supervisor will know exactly where your workload stands, and you won’t miss any deadlines.

h. Keep your supervisor informed of good, bad, and ugly news.

The famous movie producer Sam Goldwyn had a very funny quote about this. He said, “I don’t want ‘yes men’ around me. I want everyone to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs.” Ha ha. I probably shouldn’t have told you that. Because I’m about to tell you that you have to give your supervisor the accurate scoop on the work you’re doing for them, even if it’s not what they want to hear. As one Carlton Fields’ attorney says, “If they think the law is one way and you research and find that it’s not, you have to tell them.” If you’re not going to meet a deadline, don’t switch your route around the office and play a game of “Mission Impossible” so you don’t have to give them the bad news. Tell them immediately. They can deal with the truth, but if they catch you trying to snow them, they’ll never trust you again.

i. When your supervisor pays a visit to your office...

Whenever your supervisor stops by to see you, immediately stop what you’re doing, take your hands from the keyboard (or pen from paper) and look them in the eye. Listen, and have a pad and pen ready in case they need you to take some notes. They deserve your full attention. Whatever you’re doing will have to wait.

j. Wait until your supervisor feels comfortable working with you before you start making suggestions.

In an effort to take the initiative, it’s very easy to commence looking for things your supervisor can improve the moment you start working together. Try to rein in that impulse. After you fully understand what you’re doing and the reasons why you’re doing it the way you’re doing it, then you can look at things critically. Especially in the area of computers and Internet resources—where you undoubtedly know more than your supervisor does!—consider making suggestions, explaining the value of what you’re proposing.

CAREER LIMITING MOVE

Junior associate is appointed as a junior member of the firm's management committee. At her first meeting, she pipes up with suggestions for changes in firm policies. When the meeting is over, the managing partner takes her aside, and tells her, "You're new, you're green, keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut for a while. So what if you don't get it. There's a reason for it. If you have to, talk to me separately and I'll explain it. Don't question me in public."