Hi, I’m a rising 3rd-year transactional associate. I feel that I am a bit behind my level.
So, I have come to seek clarity on the expectations. What should one at my level be proficient in? Any insights on typical responsibilities and key skills to hone would be greatly appreciated.

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I'm a rising 3rd year and literally the only thing I think I know how to do are sig pages. Where is this "training" that I'm supposed to be getting at a firm?

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Omg I have been thinking exactly the same!
I feel behind and not really sure re progress or how to set myself up for a promotional role in the same or different firm. I am not getting the work I want to do!

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At my firm (we have about 200 attorneys), 3rd years are expected to have honed their researching skills, be able to draft ancillary docs (think officer’s certs, lock-ups for pub co deals, simple assignments, etc.), complete an initial draft of simple agreements (NDAs, simple equity grant docs, etc.), and certainly manage the due diligence process if you’re and M&A or Capital Markets associate. If you aren’t receiving any training, I would recommend (i) talking to your team leader or HR about training opportunities generally available to associates, (ii) aligning yourself with an associate that you like and asking if they can provide some mentorship, (iii) or reaching out to the partners you work with (who are not jerks) and talking with them about training or mentorship.

Unfortunately, at a lot of firms it is really on the associate to reach out for help with training.

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It depends on what kind of transactional work your practice is focused on. For example, I would expect a rising third year to be able to run closing docs and carry most of the diligence process (fact backup circles and tie out).

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As a third year you should be familiar with and able to do a first markup of a standard purchase agreements, LLC agmts, and corporate articles/bylaws

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At the end of my second year I started running deals as the lead associate with primary responsibility for all documents on smaller deals and was responsible for everything other than the purchase agreement for medium sized deals (M&A).

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Sounds like my firm/practice group may have been unusual, but I was drafting initial drafts of credit agreements and other ancillary financial transactional documents as a rising third year (with a significant level of oversight from partners and senior associates).

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