New Associate Training:  Beyond Law School

by:  Monica Starke, Ed.D.

In the workplace today, we all face exceptional challenges but associates face special challenges as they attempt to fulfill their multiple roles successfully. They must strive to be all that they can be in their fast-paced, demanding environment to their clients, partners, co-workers, colleagues, and yes, to their families. Are they succeeding? What can law firms do to make certain that they do succeed?

In addition to good salaries and other monetary benefits, smart law firms are paying more attention to what many call ‘soft skills’ because they realize that these skills are tied to the bottom-line success of their firms. Today, in addition to giving out financial rewards, law firms must also strive to retain their associates. Therefore, they are paying more attention to the provision of effective training programs.

Many are puzzled when they hear about associate training. What can a good lawyer still have to learn after all those years of law school? A good lawyer, upon graduation will hopefully know the law, but can he negotiate a good deal? Does he/she have the skills to communicate with the various types of clients who will confront him or her? Does he/she have the skills to convince a client that he/she has what it takes to win a case or close a deal? Does a young lawyer have the business etiquette to blend into the corporate world as needed? Can he/she be an effective team player? Will he be able to work well with his secretary? Can he handle a client’s complaint effectively? Will he be effective in courting and keeping prospective clients for his firm? Can he write well enough to please his shareholders and his clients? And, does he/she have the skills to balance his work and his life successfully so that he achieves the balance needed to be successful?

Each associate should be encouraged to take responsibility for his/her own professional growth and continuing legal education but the training effort cannot succeed unless it has the full support of the firm’s managing partners and management. A dynamic training program will ensure that a law firm has a group of topnotch attorneys with expertise in every aspect of the law.

Programs which offer substantive legal training for associates have proven to be very helpful. They present opportunities for senior lawyers and partners to become involved by teaching many of the courses. Many firms also successfully offer Fall training programs for new associates just graduating from law school. There are many untapped resources, individuals who have been in the legal profession and have much to offer as well as organizations like the American Bar Association and the Florida Bar Association that provide information and guidance to enhance program planning. Training programs for associates can be bought or even created to fit specific needs. There are opportunities to create more dynamic training programs as more law firms recognize the great need that exists when associates try to adapt successfully from law school to the practice of law.

Every law firm should strive to create a learning environment for their associates. For this to successfully happen every partner must be willing to become involved. Once they realize that after attention to billable hours, associate training and retention is the next most important ingredient to the firm’s success, they may hasten to do their part. And, there is much that they can do. They can keep an open door and create an environment that is non-threatening so that associates who appreciate and understand their very hectic schedule will still feel comfortable to approach them. They can provide constructive feedback to associates so that they are aware of their pitfalls and mistakes and will be therefore able to learn from them. Partners need to really set aside even fifteen minutes twice per week to sit with the associates who work directly with them, collectively or individually. The rewards to partners/shareholders can be great if they utilize that time to give valuable feedback, much needed guidance and the answers to questions that every associate wants to ask. Moreover, just the idea that a partner would take this time for an associate makes the associate feel valued and motivates him/ her to put his/her best legal mind to work for that partner and that law firm. 

More emphasis must also be placed on the mentoring/training experience and it is time for every good lawyer to become involved in the process. Now is the time! It is now that each partner/shareholder of a law firm should ask what can I do, instead of what can I get? Now is the time to give something back. Why? It’s the right thing to do. It is a good thing to do and everyone loses when partners do not take the time to mentor. We all understand the importance of billable hours, deadlines that must be met, memos that have to be written, calls that have to be made. Can we begin to include mentoring in these very important list of things to do? If we could, it will be the beginning of at least an acknowledgment that mentoring is a MUST.

The rewards to partners can be great. Partners gain respect from senior lawyers and associates when they take time to teach and mentor. They can feel comfortable knowing that the firm’s future is being secured. They can also delegate more work to associates with the knowledge that it will be done properly because they have trained them. Mentoring then, should provide rich personal experiences in addition to the professional experiences that are probably more readily available. An associate’s social skills and social contacts and how to obtain and nurture these are vital and can be learned through the right exposure provided by a thoughtful and unselfish mentor. Mentoring and quality training programs can therefore make the difference between the success or failure of a young associate.