Has anyone else gotten several years into a specialist practice only to realize you have serious deficits in your knowledge? I’ve somehow had very prestigious jobs in my field for the last 4 years and yet I clearly have serious substantive gaps that even my supervisors seem to be aware of. I’m very confused by this and concerned about what this means for the future of my career.
Mentor
Yep, I was in a similar spot. Does your firm offer CLE presentations, trainings, or publications in your practice area? I helped out with these and it did wonders to fill in the fundamental gaps in my knowledge.
Subject Expert
This. Read up on PLC, watch PLIs, read jdsupra articles and follow thought leaders on LinkedIn. You can do this!
Yes they do and I’m hoping to be able to get on that soon. We’ve been wildly underwater since I joined the firm this fall so I’ve just been doing what I can to stay afloat. The experience has unfortunately made me want to leave my practice area altogether.
Being crazy busy is the worst for learning I’ve realized. There’s no time to really absorb what you’re doing and focus on new concepts you haven’t worked on before. It’s just about getting stuff out and in a decent enough shape so you can meet another deadline.
Subject Expert
Recognizing you have gaps is a great first step. CLEs might help but IME they’re not advanced enough. Especially if your supervisors seem aware, I’d go to them (the ones, if any, who seem serious about helping you develop) with “on x, y and z, I have a strong basis but I’m not where I’d like to be and would really like to develop there. Can you help me get staffed on those assignments and develop those skills by working closely with me on them?” Learning by doing is the best way and hopefully they will appreciate the self-starting attitude and actually take the time to sit down with you on this work.
It’s never too late and I don’t think you need to switch specialties, it’s not like you can start as a 4th year (I think that’s what you mean you are?) in some brand new field.
I wouldn’t be too worried either, part of being a midlevel is realizing the vast gaps in your knowledge and filling them. Especially when you’ve just switched firms, it’s often the case that their midlevels are at a different place than you are (part of why firms like to push for class year drops but may not be able to do so in a hot lateral market).
Mentor
(Not sure if c1 was referring to my CLE suggestion above, but to clarify, I meant developing and presenting CLEs/trainings/publications, not attending or reading them. I found working on treatises to be a great way to fill in foundational knowledge. But if you’re able to get substantive work to fill in the gaps instead, so much the better)