Let’s talk about biglaw annual evaluations. EVERY 1st year associate I spoke to said they got stellar evaluations. (I promised I only asked close colleagues and in a non-gunner way). Is it normal for every 1st year to get great evaluations? Do evaluations only become serious/critical as a midlevel?

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Yes, normal. It’s hard to be that critical of a first year. Everything can be explained away as “they’re still learning”. The lack of constructive criticism is not helping anyone but people giving feedback are mostly cowards and don’t want to give negative feedback unless there’s some serious enough issue where they have to. What might be more telling is whether you’re getting repeat work from seniors you work for.

Are you a first year? Why are you asking?

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I would say a first year evaluation at my firm is rarely negative (something would be seriously wrong), but there's a difference between generally, generically positive and a highly specific / enthusiastic review.

That being said, there's also considerable variation based on who's delivering the review, so it really is tough to tell as a first-year. As always, the real way to tell is who gets the work...

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At my firm more critical feedback came by year 2.

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I just completed my first year and was told the eval was as good as it can get. It felt really hard to believe that there was nothing to offer constructive feedback on....it feels taboo though to really ask others how there reviews went.

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