Why is it that associates carry so much of the weight on cases, yet still feel like the partners don’t get them?
In this post, I’m going to list a few things associates wish partners would know. If you have any you’d like to add, please let me know!
- We are happy to work on cases. But we want to feel valued.
- Even if you don’t care what our current workload is like, some common courtesy is always appreciated. If you don’t care that we are overworked, how will we have enough energy to spend on your case?
- We hope you care about the areas of law that we find the most interesting. Help us develop our practices but helping us get on cases in areas of law that we want to build our practice in.
- Make us feel like our value goes beyond the billable hour. Appreciate the other non-billable tasks we do. Those often go unnoticed.
- Ask about our families, hobbies. We are people too, you know. If you show that you care about us, we’ll care back.
- We appreciate it when you say “thank you” or “you’re doing a great job.” We know it’s your job to try to make us better, but sometimes words of affirmation are all we need.
These are just some thoughts for now! I’d love for this to be a growing list. Tell me – what do you wish your boss knew?