First year law firm budget9/4/2023 ![]() ![]() Everyone is in the same boat or has been in that boat. Of course, don’t be nice to them just because they can help you!ĭon’t complain about the long hours, the possible drudgery, your associates and especially your senior attorneys. In addition to being the right thing to do, support staff know the ropes in the firm better than anyone and can help you in building a strong career. Likewise, respect everyone, from the managing partner to the housekeeping staff, and especially to the support staff. No one likes a gossip and you very much need to engender respect as these are your foundation years. Some of these include refraining from joining the gossip pool. During your first year as an associate, you want to begin to build good habits. Office PoliticsĪ few words of advice are in order. If you find yourself with too much work, talk to your supervising attorneys. On a day to day basis you want to be sure you are following a budget of billable hours. This is another area where you don’t want to be scrambling at the end of a time period, in this case, the end of the year. It is generally better to get more work than not enough work. Being politely aggressive is just one of the many skills a first-year associate must learn. You might have to be rather aggressive in asking for assignments. Getting assignments is of key importance to a first-year associate. You do not want to be left scrambling at the end of the month trying to remember what you were doing two or three weeks ago. At any rate, it is critical that you record and submit your time through PracticePanther’s easy timekeeping. Of course, you will actually work more hours than what you bill, as some tasks and day to day chores are not billable. This means coming in early and leaving late, with some weekends thrown in. Minding Billable HoursĪs a first-year associate, you will be expected to bill from 1,700 hours to 2,000 a year. ![]() As you get a little more experience under your belt, you’ll be tasked with more responsibility. You will be the boots on the ground for senior attorneys, getting the facts of a matter down cold, and getting all the relevant information to the supervising attorney and team. Performing due diligence in legal matters concerning contracts, agreements and mergers and acquisitions. ![]() Performing discovery of various electronically stored data and hard copies of information in preparation for litigation and.Analyzing and summarizing complicated legal documents, including contracts, and suggesting alterations to those documents.Researching and analyzing the law on complex issues and writing briefs for submission to a supervising lawyer in the firm.Robert Half Legal, a placement firm, posted a succinct job description of a first-year associate: Typical duties of a first-year associate Working under heavy supervision, you will begin the painstaking mission of building your craft as an attorney. To be honest, there will be quite a bit of grunt work, but since you don’t know how to be an attorney yet, this is probably a good thing. Usually, first-year associate’s support the more experienced attorneys. In learning how to be an attorney, what does a first-year associate do? First, you’ve got to learn how to be an attorney. Now that you’ve got that Juris Doctorate and soul singing bar exam out of the way, it’s time to get down to the business of lawyering. You won’t work this hard since your first year of law school. ![]()
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