Learning the ropes: Tips for attorneys starting out

From July to October, law school graduates maneuver through a series of steps to become first-year associates.

Following the bar exam in July, mid-to-large-sized firms start onboarding would-be lawyers in September. After the release of bar exam results later that month, the Indiana Supreme Court swears in new attorneys in a formal October ceremony.

Then those newly minted lawyers continue their biggest step yet.

“Law school trains you to understand the tenets of a legal mind. And it trains you to take the bar, but it does not train you to practice,” said Dawn Rosemond, firm strategic pillars partner at Barnes and Thornburg in Fort Wayne.

While the adjustment from college to law school can be challenging, the transition from student to attorney creates a new set of struggles.

From attorneys who graduated law school 30 years ago to lawyers at the beginning of their careers, seven Hoosier professionals share what to expect at a law firm and how to adapt to a new way of life. They say first-year associates who are service-minded, relationship-focused and value-driven will steer the best course for their careers.

Expect to increase work capacity

While law school focuses on students and their studies, law firms concentrate on clients and their cases. New attorneys serve and collaborate with other people, and there’s often a chain of decisionmakers to navigate.

“The first-year lawyer may be working with a senior associate, who’s working with a partner, who’s reporting to the litigation counsel, who reports to the general counsel, who reports to the CEO, who reports to the board,” said John Maley, president of the Indiana State Bar Association and partner and labor and employment department chair at Barnes and Thornburg in Indianapolis. “There’s an end client, but there are these intermediary clients.”

Workloads vary depending on the size of the firm and department. Some practice areas experience waves of work, such as mergers and acquisitions, where new attorneys may have to wait for the next cycle to begin instead of joining a deal mid-project.

First-year associates can anticipate working an average of 60 hours a week, according to Kyle Montrose, a partner and member of the corporate services department at Dentons in Indianapolis.

“It’s always better to sign yourself up with the mentality of working harder than you may have to,” he said. “And then if you don’t have to work that long, all the better.”

Griffin O’Gara, an associate in Krieg Devault’s employee benefits and executive compensation practice in Indianapolis, saw his workload ramp up over time after he started at the firm.

“You go from having two to three projects at a time, to three or four projects at a time, to four or five projects at a time, to more projects than you can keep track of sometimes,” he said.

In a professional law environment, feedback differs from academic evaluations in law school. Instead of a professor recognizing that 70% of the work was right on a test, the firm’s attention will focus on the 30% that was wrong, Montrose noted. First-year associates must adapt to this change, learn from their mistakes and give themselves some grace.

“The person they look up to the most, the one they think has it all together, I can guarantee you that person at some point struggled, too,” said Rosemond.

To stay organized, new attorneys should track deadlines, such as pre-trial conferences, on a calendar, prioritize urgent tasks and delegate work to support staff. Brian Zoeller, equity partner and chair at CohenMalad in Indianapolis, teaches young lawyers about the importance of paralegals and legal assistants within the Applied Professionalism Course, a mandatory six-hour continuing legal education requirement for new attorneys.

“You have to respect the knowledge that they bring to the table and lean into that. Because if you do, and you do it in a respectful, team-oriented approach, they’ll help you, and that will help propel your career,” he said.

First-year associates would also be wise to get familiar with the tools and resources that can optimize their workflows, according to Caryn Glawe, partner at Faegre Drinker in Indianapolis.

“Integrating AI and other technology into the legal practice is top of mind for lawyers,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for new lawyers to learn the new technology and integrate it from day one.”

Build working relationships

The law firm environment enables new attorneys to connect with peers and mentors within their department, outside their specialty and at other offices. Montrose, who serves as hiring partner and summer associate program chair, previously led his firm’s associate advisory group, which fosters lawyer development, education and mentoring. Rosemond continues to instill the importance of engagement into the mindsets of first-year associates.

“It’s a relationship business,” she said. “Someone walking by your office and saying, ‘Hey, want to go have lunch with me?’ Or sitting down and having a conversation. You think that has nothing to do with work, but it has everything to do with work. The more I get to know who you are, the more comfortable I feel and vice versa, the more likely I am to want to engage and work together.”

Even during slow periods, O’Gara noted that new attorneys ought to remain open to other practice areas to supplement their workload and stay active in the profession.

“Whether it’s writing an article for an industry trade association or signing up for [continuing legal education] with the Indianapolis Bar Association or trying to find some opportunity at your alma mater to speak to law students or grabbing coffee with senior associates or partners, don’t take your remote day and sit on the couch,” he said.

Rosemond insists that first-year associates must build reputable brands by showing up as the best version of themselves. In addition, she recommends learning the business side of a law firm.

“I thought it was enough for me to keep my head down and do good work. It is not. It was not enough then; it is definitively not enough now,” said Rosemond. “Understand the inner workings of the place that you’re giving your time to.”

While new attorneys should take advantage of firm outreach and support, Montrose also stressed the responsibility of being proactive mentees.

“The other side of this is not only finding a place that’s going to support you but being an easily supported person. So, taking constructive criticism, taking ownership of the work that you’re doing, being a good firm citizen,” he said.

‘Focus on what is important’

The American Bar Association recently released a survey of lawyer well-being, with more than 40% of lawyers saying their stint in the legal profession had been detrimental to their mental health. More than 20% revealed increased alcohol or other drug use attributable to professional stress, and 27% said they’d considered leaving the profession because of mental health, burnout or stress.

To help cope with first-year pressure, associates can track their metrics against law firm quotas to monitor where they stand and have a sense of control. Amina Thomas, partner at CohenMalad in Indianapolis, encourages new attorneys to communicate with others early and often.

“The vast majority of attorneys and firms have an open-door policy and want you to come ask questions when you don’t understand something,” she said. “Or just follow up and say, ‘Hey, I’ve made such and such progress, and I just wanted to do a check-in.’ And while that can feel scary, it feels a lot less scary than at the end of something, a week or two later, feeling like, ‘I’m not sure if this is what they wanted’ and not feeling great about the work.”

Incorporating self-care routines, such as exercise and hobbies, and family commitments into schedules can enable first-year associates to manage mental health issues and balance work-life responsibilities.

“I do box breathing a lot,” O’Gara said. “That helps me a lot when I’m super anxious about my workload or a serious issue that’s come up on a transaction and whether we’re going to be able to resolve it or just the random anxiety that you get throughout the day.”

Turning off digital disruptions such as phone notifications and not checking email on the weekends allows new attorneys to set boundaries and redirect attention.

“There are so many more distractions than what I had when I was a young lawyer,” said Zoeller. “They have to come to grips with the fact that some of that noise they don’t need, and that will help them to focus on what is important.”

Rosemond champions first-year associates to define success on their terms and remember that “there’s literally no other you.”

“You have to appreciate that makes you a game changer off top,” she added. “No one makes decisions, thinks about things, looks at things the way I do, and so I have something to offer.”

For Maley, the way new attorneys start their legal careers sets the tone for the rest of their journeys.

“The law is still a noble profession,” he said. “The measure of a great lawyer of whatever tenure is the ability to independently take an issue, problem, task, case, deal, and master it and deliver timely and excellent results and service.”

As department chair, Maley is currently preparing to evaluate the first-year performances of 50 lawyers who started at his firm last fall.

“You ask, ‘How much have you learned?’ And they say it’s ridiculous how much they have learned about process and practice,” he said.•