Related Posts
Best bars in the Heights?
Sycamore reneging on the VS deal? uncool man!
Additional Posts in Big Law
What happened at MoFo London M&A
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Depends on someone’s level I think. For the first year, maybe two, hand markups were the most helpful because I had to think about the inputs. Now that I’m a mid level, I find myself versioning up / making edits myself and telling juniors to run redlines themselves. My how the turntables.
Having been a typist (executive assistant prior to law school for a CEO who didn’t know how to type) - no, it’s not the same. Entering someone else’s changes is a great way to learn, and of course you’re expected to double-check the work/add value as you go.
I’m not saying I agree (I am junior enough that I’ve always worked with track changes) but some partners know how to use track changes but deliberately chose to mark it up with pen. Their theory, as has been explained to me, is it forces you to pay more attention to their revisions. So, you learn more, but also are more careful putting them in and thinking about where else the same revision should be applied.
I can see the point for big stuff, but comment bubbles accomplish the same thing (highlighting an important edit). And with little stuff like corrected capitalization, it just seems wasteful of everyone’s time to me. But that’s the theory.
That and the other argument I've heard for hand-scribbled notes: it's simply easier on the eyes and generally easier to spot mistakes etc. when reading a paper document vs. a screen. The partners are not going to then put in the changes themselves - that's what they have us for!
Is it maybe that partners don’t really care about the knock on effect of this stuff on people they are giving the comments to, and are doing what is best for them but not other people?
Mentor
Tracked changes is my personal preference. But, being a junior means working to accommodate an older person's style. Most partners are not tech-savy, so they markup printed documents, and I make the changes.
Others do weird things with the word doc, and then I have to figure out what the hell they did.