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Rising Star
We all make mistakes. It’s expected that you will make mistakes as you learn and grow. Own them and learn from them. Try not to repeat past mistakes but go out and make new ones. Relax. The arc of your career is long and worrying like this is going to drastically shorten it.
I think lawyers are prone to this kind of thinking - I know I was / am. It goes with the territory of taking on other people’s high stakes legal problems + perfectionism + extremely low risk tolerance. I don’t have great advice. Remember that you have a track record of 100% success in making it through difficulties in your past. And you will be able to face whatever comes at you in the future. Keeping this in mind sometimes helps me stop catastrophizing and lets me focus on just doing the best I can.
My bf and I are both first year associates and we both feel like this ALL this time. I think it’s totally normal to have fear about losing the job you value over a mistake you could make so easily. But any mistakes you’re making are probably reasonable mistakes for any new attorney to make. Also, hiring a new attorney is a big investment for a firm. They’re not going to fire you without good cause. You deserve to be there. Remember to celebrate your wins (even the little ones) as much as you contemplate your mistakes.
I am a partner at a firm, my perspective is that it’s not so much people making mistakes, but the type of mistake. If the error is due to lack of experience or training, then I feel it’s up to the firm to work through it with the associate. If the mistake is due to the associate, not being thorough in their work, not making sufficient effort or showing poor judgment, then it can be a red flag and I want to see if it’s a one off or part of a pattern. As an associate, the best you can do is make an honest effort to do good work. Everyone makes errors, but if you generally make a solid effort and are thoughtful about you work, a good firm will value you, despite the occasional error.
Ask for honest feed back. Ask whether you’re meeting, short of, or exceeding expectations. Try to gauge the credibility and reputation of who is giving the feedback. I had a boss that everyone referred to as a weasel or snake. He gave me a great review at my one-year mark and then fired me 2/3 months later with no feedback in between. In hindsight, I wish I received more substantive feedback from other partners, but I also don’t know if it would have changed the outcome. Bottom line, get input and absorb everything you hear. If you’re deficient, make a plan of attack to address your shortcomings.
Meet your hours and you’ll be fine. Firms care more about numbers than anything else.
Although what you say is true—all things equal, constant mistakes will eventually reduce workflow and thus hours—the point stands. At most groups and firms making hours is not a sufficient condition.
The worst mistake you can really make as a first year is to be lazy or unresponsive. Doesn’t seem like you need to worry about either thing.
Most mistakes are fixable. Just don’t blow a statute.
Nobody gets fired for making a mistake. People get fired when they make the same mistake over and over.
Always just be honest and admit to it immediately, almost all mistakes can be fixed.
You’re fine. The only thing you can mess up in civil is admissions not being answered on time or a SOL tolling. Everything else can be fixed. Those issues won’t be your fault either, but the partner whose name is on the case. You’d only be fired if you don’t learn from your mistakes.
Remember how you felt right before you took your first year exams and also how you felt before you took the bar exam? In both cases you ended being fine, and you will be fine here as well. There is simply too much to learn in law, and it’s natural to feel uneasy for awhile. It gets better….
If you’re thinking this way at least you care. I felt this way allll the up until right now as an 8th year as put myself out to pasture at a client. You’ll be okay.
Well said! I am not an attorney, but a legal assistant. This field of work can be brutal for everyone at times. It can really bring you down. I wish more attorneys would take that reality on. All of us want to succeed.
There are only two ways to get fired. One, making more mistakes than your class year permits. Second, showing that at times your personal life comes first before work.
Agree
Everyone makes mistakes. Making mistakes all the time is different. If you are doing a good and thorough job, you’ll be OK.
No one is going to fire you.
Even partners make mistakes. But they get to blame associates for them :)
Yeah this is how it goes. It will get better
You have survived 100% of your anxious thoughts.