New York Lawyer
June 10, 2004

Q:
I'm a summer associate at a large NY firm. On my first day at my firm, I received two assignments. One has gone splendidly. The attorneys are kind and have given positive feedback regarding my work. But, the attorneys in charge of the other case have given me a fairly clear impression that they are not pleased to be working with me. They may be dissatisfied with my work product, or my personality, or who knows what...

Is there anything I can do, other than requesting to rotate off the case (which is common after 2-3 weeks)? Ideally, I would like to know what went wrong and avoid inspiring similar distaste during the rest of my stay here.

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A:

The attorneys you�re working with have a clear obligation to be open and candid about any issues they have with your performance. If you have a "fairly clear impression that they are not pleased," but have no idea whether it�s because of your work product, your personality, or the baseball team you root for, this speaks volumes that the supervising lawyers have dropped the ball on accountability. Some firms have systems requiring written and verbal feedback to summers, to avoid exactly this sort of uncertainty about one�s standing, although frequently the quality of the feedback isn�t all that helpful.

First, ask yourself whether you even like this firm. If you don�t, there�s not much point in agonizing over one assignment.

A next step would be to ask for advice from someone else at the firm whom you feel comfortable with (perhaps a first- or second-year associate), or other summers who may have worked with this particular group, about the attorneys involved. Don�t spill your guts, but simply ask neutral questions like, "What were they like to work with? Are they comfortable giving feedback?" In other words, figure out the political landscape. It could be that these lawyers are always faintly dissatisfied and enigmatic, and that you are simply getting the standard treatment they dish out.

It also could be that they�re perfectly satisfied and simply don�t feel any obligation to let you know. "No news is good news" is pretty standard, unfortunately, in many law firms. So don�t automatically assume that you�re in the doghouse.

If, however, you conclude that you have reason to be concerned, at some logical point you could ask the attorneys involved for feedback, saying you want to make sure to improve in the future so would appreciate any tips they might have. You don�t need to say this in a cringing, guilty sort of way, just a straightforward, factual way: "I enjoyed working on this matter with you. Can you evaluate my performance so that I have a sense of where I�m going right and where I might need improvement?"

Many attorneys do not like giving negative feedback and will avoid it at all costs, simply vowing to themselves internally that they won�t work with the person again. So you may have to persist a little bit to find out what�s going on. It�s worth it to persist, however. Otherwise their negative views will flourish unchallenged, and you will be deprived of valuable information to build your expertise.

Sincerely,
Holly English
Principal Consultant, Values at Work