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😭 👶🏿 🌈 🐻. 🚀 🌚
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Pro
Just handle it bro
Rising Star
I don’t think that’s normal. The only person that should be doing that is your actual manager.
Rising Star
Sounds like they’re trying to be helpful. I’d ignore it and not fret.
I totally get the irritation of someone telling you something you already know. Ugh. It can feel crappy, especially if you are one of the more junior lawyers on the team and you really want to establish your reputation for great work. I’m wondering if there’s another way to approach (and think about) this.
I’d suggest having a conversation with your manager, and describe, in neutral, factual terms, what’s going on and ask how they suggest you handle it. I would make sure you don’t come off as not being able to collaborate with others or with any chip on your shoulder about your/their experience level. Instead, be curious. One good reason to do this is to understand how you handle getting different guidance from this other lawyer vs your manager. This is about trying to make sure you understand expectations and any unwritten rules. It’s entirely possible the manager asked this lawyer to mentor you. And having a much more experienced lawyer as a sounding board may turn out to be a real blessing. Finally, you might also take a different tack with the senior lawyer. When you two connect, start the conversation with: “I’m planning to do X and Y [the obvious things they’d normally tell you to do]. I’m wondering about your thoughts on Z [something you are legit trying to figure out.” After doing this a few times, hopefully they will recalibrate on what you already are likely to know and where they can support you.
Good luck!
Conversation Starter
Thanks for this response and I appreciate the advice. This situation is slightly different in that the more senior attorney is not giving me substantive direction nor really involved in my matters, nor has more years of experience than me in my area of practice. For example, we received, via email,factual information confirming how a process was done that my client had a question about and this senior attorney was copied by the sender only as an FYI given that the attorney was present when I was updating the team during our meeting. In response to the email the attorney says: “name, please reach out to the internal client and let them know this information.” Do you still have the same thought given that the direction is not substantive? I otherwise would like to approach it the way you suggested. And of course, this is just one example.
I’d still take the same approach. While the dynamic seems odd from this side of things, more info (and some different perspective) may change that characterization. And getting input from your manager (again, while avoiding seeming like you’re complaining), will be important. I think of it as trying to get more cards on the table, more info in your hands to assess how to proceed. I’d also see if you can find a pattern in their behavior. So, using the example you gave, do the attorney’s behavior all cluster around communication (e.g., always being really proactive with the business about the status of work)? If so, then I’d try responding faster to emails like the one you described, beating them to the punch, so to speak. It’s possible this is not at all about you but about the way they prefer themselves/the team to be perceived. It’s also a great example to use when you speak to your manager: “I’m trying to decode what’s happening…here is a specific example…is this a special business relationship of [attorney]’s? How fast do you expect team members to send emails confirming receipt? How do other members of the team work together - is this type of communication typical? Is [attorney] supervising me on this work or are you? Part of the reason I’m asking is because I’m looking to establish myself with [business person] … “
Make sense?
Conversation Starter
Makes perfect sense. Thank you and I really appreciate your time in sharing your thoughts on this!
Rising Star
whats your YOE
Rising Star
unless you are a junior or you were taking over that person’s spot and so that person was giving you tips on how to work the role, it seems inappropriate