Any way to come back from a negative mid year review? (details in comments)

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Who delivered your review? Is it a partner on the comp committee who actually went through and read the reviews that were submitted? Do you have an ability to have a follow-up conversation with that person and ask for specific criticisms that came through in the reviews? Some firms give associates the ability to request reviews. Do you have an advisor/mentor partner that you can reach out to? Ultimately, if the negative review is coming as a shock to you, you need to figure out with specificity what your reviewing attorneys see as the issues with your performance and focus on those things.

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2nd year associate here. Got a negative mid year review, which surprised me because all the feedback communicated to me so far has been positive. Was told to become a master of the law and have a follow-up conversation scheduled 2 weeks from the review. Any advice? Insight? Guidance? I don’t have any attorneys in the family, so no one else really to turn to. Appreciate all feedback.

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Just based on what you've said here, and not knowing more, they will likely put you on a PIP and eventually lay you off (I've seen very few people come back from a PIP). I've never heard "master of law" used in any review, but if they're setting a meeting two weeks out as a follow-up, it's likely to set up a PIP. I would get prepared just in case.

And to get ahead of it (again, could be wrong, but just in case - you want to be able to leave on your own terms), you might want to think about reaching out to a career coach or recruiter, or both. In our current market, I recommend a career coach over a recruiter because recruiters don't provide tactical advice on navigating the employer-friendly market.

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They said you have to „become a master of the law“ and to meet in two weeks?

Now, I would say either (i) this is what A1 says (because becoming a master of the law - what an expression (!) - in two weeks is impossible and I, after more than a decade of practice, would not dare to consider myself one) or (ii) what they wanted to say is that you need to find a way to gain more substantial skills and that meeting is meant for you to tell them how to do it.

In any case, considering how to acquire more substantial skills is never a bad thing.

I would also agree with GD1 that we might want more information.

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This doesn’t bode well and I’d start looking for another position. I think a second year is a little too junior for career coaching, so I’d look for a recruiter/tap into your network. It’s not a great market out there, but luckily you’re junior enough that you’ll likely get some traction, depending on area of the law, etc. But given the state of the market, start sooner rather than later - you want to be proactive rather than reactive.

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