Partners in BigLaw - what are the three most important traits of an excellent mid-level associate that separate them from a good or “just ok” associate?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

I’d boil it down to two:

1 - Take ownership. This means you act as if the transaction is yours to run with—you proactively anticipate what needs to be done, you prioritize things, you make sure everyone on the team is getting stuff done, you turn drafts that are your best possible work, if you don’t know an answer you try to figure it out including asking other lawyers and you make sure you generally have an eye on everything going on. You also take ownership of your career—if you have a place you need experience, you make a proactive effort to get that experience. If you don’t understand how a term in an agreement works, you go pull examples and ask others about approach.

2 - Judgment. When you are required to make judgment calls, you consistently make the right call. Whether that is what items do I prioritize, what items do I raise to the partner or client, or how do I push back on this, you tend to get it right. Mid-levels certainly won’t be perfect about this, but a truly excellent mid-level will get it right most of the time.

like

Serious question, how does one improve on the judgement point? I feel like I’m making wrong initial judgements (which the partner will correct) at least half the time, and wondering when I’ll start to see this trend upwards / how to get there.

like

Following.

like

Related Posts

How to Negotiate with HR after accepting offer letter without having another company offer letter ?

like

What are the other Strategy consulting orgs have good size info security practice beside EY, PWC,Accenture,Kpmg, Deloitte.

What is the best way to accept a promotion and then negotiate a higher salary?

like

For someone who spent most of his adult life in Europe, what recommendations do you have for me when moving to dubai as a consultant?

like

I’m a 25F and just took up a Manager position in a consulting firm. I have 6 people reporting into me- all my age or older. I’m having trouble making the team take me seriously as a boss bcz of age

like
like

Has anyone been on keto on a long term basis? Like 3+ years? I’ve been on keto for a year, but don’t know if it’s the way to go from a long term perspective. Google results give me conflicting information health wise. Any firsthand knowledge and experiences would be beneficial.

like

Working on a deal where buyer's side keeps on insisting on a POA to effectuate all actions of Seller under the agreement, including executing documents. I keep striking this and commenting that this is not standard. Has anyone dealt with this? I am okay with a limited POA based on the industry of the Seller, but not this general POA.

It looks like Y&R healthcare is looking to expand... what’s it like? The accounts, culture, management, etc.

like

Looking for a Radiology Manager position in Delray Beach /Boca Raton area.

Anyone able to see Tax sheet in payroll portal ?

like

Can anyone recommend a CPA for relatively simple tax returns?

Anyone bought Everlane clothing/shoes? Opinions? I like their oxfords but not bought

like

Looking for advice navigating my move in-house. I’ve just gotten hard “no’s” on my hardware requests and have found myself owning a bunch of responsibilities that were not part of what I agreed on.

like

Question for my tax gurus. Want to refinance my rental property. I assume I can deduce closing costs, new interest expenses. The cash im pulling out, however, is going to a personal reason. If al@this above board? I’d love to be able to increase my interest expenses in a tax deductible part of my finances (I take standard deduction).

like

Is it safe to join @cvent during this recession time as frontend software Engineer 2.
React develper with 4 yr exp.

@Cvent

Hi Fishes,
I am ready to join within 18 days. I have 2 offer in hand from Pune but I am looking for permanent work from home opportunity. Can you please let me know or refer me if is there any PWFH opportunity. My skill set is as below:

Total Exp: 7.9 yrs
Relevant: 7.5 yrs
Notice period: 18 days
Power BI,
MS SQL & Oracle
AWS Athena, AWS Quick-sight
Presto DB
SSRS
DWBI
Azure Synapse, ADF & Azure SQL
SSIS SSAS

like

Curious to know what companies people are working at that they absolutely LOVE for sales roles and why?

likehelpful

Consultants in deal teams, what advice would you give to consultants going through recruiting now?

like

Curious what the base and commission structure is for inside sales and associate director of sales in biotech (also anyone else who wants to share pls put industry). Paid hourly or salary? At the biotech company I work at avg inside sales is $62,632 with a $3500 per quarter cap. Commission structure is % based on sales quota reached vs capped (not a direct % of sales). I’m underpaid at $53000 with $3500 cap per quarter.

like

Additional Posts in Big Law

Any of you partners or partnership track people start off as bad associates and then get it together a few years in? Trying to figure out if/ how I can get better at this.

like

Recently passed the Massachusetts bar exam and I’m looking for some junior roles in Boston now. I graduated law school last year so I am very early into my legal career. Does anyone have recruiter recommendations or know someone that I could reach out to to help guide me through this process?

like

Any one know how ip lit is at MoFo Los Angeles?

likesmart

What’s color suit to start first day at a new firm tomorrow? Black, grey or blue?

like

I’ve got a lateral interview for an AM 100 firm tomorrow. I’m currently at a tiny plaintiff employment litigation firm. The lateral would be to defense employment litigation. Advice on how to answer the question of “why are you switching from plaintiff to defense”?

like

Does anyone have experience or insight as to how best to navigate receiving a large settlement bonus (not something that happens on a regular basis, and so is not “expected” income) while on fed student loan income based repayment plan? Next year they will bump up my monthly because my tax return reflects a higher income than my actual salary.

like

New associate and our firm is slowly returning to the office. I really like my work from home setup that includes an ultra wide monitor and a another monitor in portrait mode. Would it be frowned upon to replicate this in my office?

like

Any Antitrust Associates looking for a step up in pay/opportunities/brand? Market is insane for Antitrust M+A/merger review. I am working with multiple elite firms on filling positions. DM me.

like

So, I'm happy at my current job and have been there about 18 months. Our pay is probably 15% below market (AmLaw 100) but so are our billable requirements. An interview for another firm kind of fell into my lap, and I'm debating whether to take it just for the sake of seeing what market really is. Is there something shady about interviewing somewhere you're not totally committed to accepting an offer from?

like

What should you prepare for a transactional lateral conflicts check? Do you have to have prepare a deal sheet for every deal you worked in?

like

Any firms discussing alternative plans with incoming SAs?

like

I’ve seen this rant a lot so I know we all have that one partner—but for the love of god can you just forward me the emails when you get it?? I see you got this urgent request over 10 days ago 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

likefunny

Need advice. Am in the middle of parental leave right now and my spouse and I are on the brink of divorce. Have only this 1 kid. Spouse doesn’t work yet, but can with earning potential around $50k. I make around $450k. No way I’d keep this job if divorce happens. I’d eventually transition in house so I can take care of my kid when I have him, but that won’t be immediate. How will custody work in that case? I want joint, but how do I take care of him alone with this job in the meantime?

like

What is the best way to communicate to a senior associate that you can handle something yourself without offending the senior associate?

like

Anyone else hoping for that H1B this year?

like

Is it okay that I’ve been a slow junior as we’re hours away from closing? I’m trying to be proactive and available to cross things off the list but I’m SLOW: takes me long enough that they do it themselves (even though this wasn’t an issue earlier in the deal) and even on quick tasks or emails, they respond to it before I can click send. There’s also so much about closing that I don’t understand and I feel like I’m bothering the higher-ups on the team whenever I ask. *end anxiety post*

like

Those that left in-house to go back to big law, why’d you leave? Do you regret it? Did you lose your WLB when you went back?

like

the main partner I work for hasn’t been giving me consistent enough work (or type I want) so while I work for him still on some deals, I’ve had to go and get other work from other partners. He doesn’t regularly check in on what I’m working on. He keeps volunteering me for projects without checking if I have capacity and if he expected to know everything I’m working on… he would’ve thought I was just doing nothing the last 2 months. I don’t know how to address this workload balancing with him!

like

The one day I leave early the Chairman of the Firm is in the lobby

likefunny

Outside of the madness of big law, what percentage of a person’s life should work take up?

like

New to Fishbowl?

Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
  • Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
  • Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
  • Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.

Already a user?
Login here

Share

Embed this post

Copy and paste embed code on your site

Preview

Download the
Fishbowl app

See what’s happening in your industry
from the palm of your hand.

A phone with Fishbowl app

Send download link to your phone

OR

Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Messaging rates may apply

Download app

Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Already have an account? Log in

Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use(New) and Privacy Policy(New)
Messaging rates may apply

Already have an account? Log in

For account settings, visit Fishbowl on Desktop Browser or

General

Legal