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You’re saving redlines? You’re taking this WAY more seriously than you need to. Until you’re a 4th year no one cares about your reviews unless you’re just awful to work with (you’d know).
This was helpful, thank you!
What do you mean by prepare?
Rising Star
Other than having a few goals you’d like to accomplish next year, I don’t think you really need to prepare unless there have been concerns over your work product. I would not take redlines with you unless your firm expects that for some reason.
Just show up. Don’t be defensive. Do what they tell you. There, prep time over. :)
Have questions on improvement and expectations next year. If it’s a conversation, set goals for the upcoming year as well (court appearance, oral arguments, etc)
Generally, listen, nod, do what they say at your level. If there is some glaring thing you need to work on, acknowledge it and tell them how you are going to fix it.
YES. THIS. Don't even try to "explain." You aren't explaining. You are defending. Just shut up and listen. Complain to your friends later if it makes you feel better.
My first year i billed like complete garbage--hot mess. Probably averaged 166/month???? Mind you i had no experience with billing but i got my work done and the work was fine. All they told me was: well, you are 100 hours short (i took off for a month to take a second state's bad), so we cannot give you a bonus, but here's a $2k raise, and you are lucky to even get that. (Mind you, i am going into my second year, 3rd year with the firm, and lawyers with the same experience with less licenses (i have three) get paid more than me.)
Defense sucks unless you absolutely love it, are a rainmaker and bring in the clients (not happening without trials under your belt) or you're a psychopath (hehe im kidding). I cannot wait to join the plaintiffs side. You will soon learn nothing matters more than your billing. You can crush motions and win arguments all day, if you did not bill, you are trash to them. Sorry terible day, rant over. Welcome to the shit show.
@A2 and @A4 I'm at a small firm in DC. I remember we recently extended an offer to an associate that I knew (and had recommended we hire). He turned it down because of the salary (he came from big law). A few of us were talking about how we were surprised since it's so worth it. We were like: we all go for afternoon walks or coffee runs together, we take full hour lunches, we have low billable hour requirements... We were like, When do we work? Maybe we are paid too much. Don't get me wrong, we sometimes get annoyed with each other. But we can commiserate with each other about any problems. We associates feel empowered to let a partner know if they are stepping on boundaries at all. We have been calling each other and video chatting to check in and make sure we are all OK during the quarantine - not the forced, arranged, all-firm zoom. It's not perfect but it's pretty awesome.
Set achievable goals that they can appreciate you putting forth effort to meet or exceed. Also talk about your brand - who you are that no one else is. What you bring to the table now and how you see your brand evolving in the next year, 2 or 3.
I am same (coming up on second year in October) and had my first review a week or two ago. Did you fill out a self eval? Did the partners you work for fill out evals? Generally, you should already know what they will discuss because, it there are negative issues with your performance, your partners will have already told you about them. Or at least that was my experience. Mine went well overall but I’m obviously not going to be perfect. The things they said I needed to improve on were already known by me, so I actually referenced them in my self eval. Just be yourself, no need to prepare. It’s nerve wracking, but being nervous is really unnecessary. If they like you and your work, but you have some things to improve on, that’s perfectly normal for your skill level! Don’t fret dude, especially as a first year. You’re going to suck at some things and be good at others, just say you’ll work on those things you suck at and continue to do well with the things you’re good at.
I come to the yearly review with a list of 5 goals, generally touching on improvements in my performance, experience, charitable outreach, and bringing in business. I discuss these goals with the partner and the bullet points of how I plan to achieve them. Also, my firm does a yearly review as well, but before you leave ask for a 6 month review to touch base. A year is too long to wait to revisit your goals/ progress! And schedule the 6 month review right away - when it gets to the week of the 6 month review touch base with the partner to work out which day/time will work best for them, then move the calendar entry at that point.