I talk to associates every day at great firms. These people are smart, successful, and even polite (thanks!). However, many also have a regrettably short-sighted view of success in their profession. Many associates at great firms will tell me that they are happy and have good work. The difficulty with that being the end-all and be-all of one’s analysis is that it is basically founded upon an excessively Zen-like perspective on time. MEANING, you may be practicing law for 20, 30, 40 or even 50 more years (yes, I’m afraid with advances in science, many of us will be working WELL into what today we call ‘old age’). Therefore, does it really MATTER that you think you have ‘good work’ right now, as a fifth-year lawyer? I’m afraid that your career deserves a little more introspection than that. At the least, think about whether your firm is positioning itself wisely in the marketplace. Please realize that your ability to serve your clients is going to depend on the quality of the NETWORK of attorneys you can bring to bear on any given problem. If your firm is not making the long-term decisions regarding compensation, rates, and other ‘bottom-line’ considerations, it may not be able to attract talent in the long term. THIS MATTERS. I've identified a few creteria that I value in the following piece debunking the myths of "firm culture". Enjoy: http://bcgsearch.com/crc/pdf/zen.pdf
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This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
