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Hi Sharks, I have an offer from Pwc SDC bangalore and they are providing permanent wfh. But they have not given this in writing. can anyone whi is already working at pwc tell us ? Are they gonna cal to office next year or not ? Since i might need to shift location !!! Which will be hectic !! PwC PwC India Pwc AC
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What are the top litigation practices in LA?
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Insight on Kirkland & Ellis?
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Some partners are interested in providing guidance, and some aren't. And only some of those interested are any good at it. If you find one, stay put.
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Go for it, T1!
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My experience is that you should already have evaluated the issue and have a proposed course of action before going for guidance. If you go with a blank stare expecting the partner to hold your hand and do the work for you before you’ve even tried, it’s not going to garner a great response. Ownership and initiative is important.
That said, partners and senior attorneys today (and for the past decade+) have completely abdicated responsibility to train juniors. That’s literally part of the job if you’re a senior attorney - and I say that as an attorney crossing into a more senior level who has reports - and especially Gen X partners (in my experience) just refused to do it and acted like the junior should learn through osmosis and divine revelation without the partner/senior having to do anything.
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Yeah that was me too. I was literally screamed at as a first year for asking genuine questions that even now I feel were appropriate.
I had a partner my 2nd and 3rd years who literally expected me to handle parts of complex deals and know complex areas of law without any prior experience in those areas or training from him - not even collaboration was provided. He was shocked that I didn’t know certain things when I asked, and all I could think was “dude, that was your job to show me!”
My challenge now is the opposites almost in that my Gen X GC that I report to does not want to know what I’m doing or working on unless I have a question or need direction. No micromanagement at all which is great, but I get pushback if I err on more visibility even without asking for help. But if I do need help, she is at least great and will make time to help or let me send to outside counsel.
Can we start calling you Teach?
I would absolutely be interested in your thoughts on how to best draw feedback out of partners. For context, I am a corporate associate at a large law firm. I have found getting candid feedback to be difficult.
My strategies for seeking feedback are: (1) Timing - flag that it would be great to get honest feedback at the end of the deal and follow up once the dust settles and ask for a specific time to talk about it; (2) Specificity - provide specific areas on which feedback would be helpful. Instead of just “How’d I do, boss?”, I’ll ask about specific concepts, (e.g., management of the team, marking up of the definitive agreement, etc.) I specify that I want to know areas of improvement and welcome criticism. (3) Selectivity - I aim to ask people who are senior enough to provide quality feedback on the concept I’m asking about (e.g., when I was a junior, it was fine to ask a mid-level how well I managed the first years but for feedback on the definitive agreement markup, I would ask a partner or a skilled senior associate).
In my experience people are willing to engage in the motions of providing feedback but it’s generally just “Hey man, great job on this one. Let’s work together again.” The work keeps coming which is a certain type of feedback but I’m looking for active mentorship. Standard-issue praise is affirming but unhelpful to my development as an attorney.
Some people take the view that the partner’s markup is the feedback. Markups are certainly helpful and I do learn conceptual points from reviewing them but I would grow faster if partners were willing to talk through their thinking. The chance to learn from their expertise is one of the main reasons I am working at their firm. There are partners that are willing to do this, but I have found them to be the rare exception. Blessings on any partner reading this who does provide such feedback.
In some sense, I get it. Partners are busy and taking an hour to talk over an agreement is an hour less they have to spend with their families. Additionally, in my view, some partners either don’t want to risk alienating an associate they like or simply don’t have a good skill set for explaining how to do things. I also recognize that partners have seen many associates across the years and invested time in people who eventually left the firm which may then make that partner’s investment feel like a waste.
That’s a lot of words from me, but I’m hoping it provides context. If there are strategies you suggest for maximizing specific, candid feedback I would love to hear them and I’m sure others would as well. Thanks for all the commenting you have done here and elsewhere. Your perspective is a great addition to this bowl.
Leor?
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After being completely blindsided in my last review to the point I am leaving--100% would be interested
Guidance? Unheard of. I feel like they have no idea as well unless there is a strict formula or template for something.