Mentoring attorneys in a small law firm

I get that in a busy small law firm, you have barely enough time in the day to do your own work, return phone calls and emails, and extinguish the daily fires that always seem to sprout up like you’re in California during the dry season. Isn’t that why you hired that associate in the first place: to take some of the work off your shoulders and increase revenue? You made the effort to weed through the resumes and writing samples. You called the references and, after interviewing some very promising prospects, you settled on your first choice and hired him/her. Well then, why are you still working so hard and your associate isn’t making you any money at all?

New attorneys are the greatest and riskiest long-term investment a small law firm will make. Just like mutual fund managers who monitor daily the performance of a portfolio, senior attorneys must pay close attention to new attorneys to ensure the greatest return. The first couple years of an attorney’s career are tough enough and while you turned out all right,t and without any help, it is a terrible argument for treating your associates like pledges in a fraternity. The purpose of this article is to give ten suggestions on how best to mentor new attorneys in a small law firm setting and making the process more than simply introducing them around the courthouse and answering every question with “have you looked at the statute?”

1. Meet regularly with the associate

When starting out, you should plan to meet once a month. After the first year, so long as there are no problems, once every two months make sense. This should not be a meeting that you have when you both realize that you have time, or when there’s trouble. Make sure that you both set it on your schedule and block out sufficient time to meet. Otherwise, the meeting won’t happen.

2. Establish attainable goals

Well before you hire an attorney, you should develop a multi-year set of expectations for him or her. Of course, this could start with billable hours or cash receivables. More than the financial expectations, you should set other goals and requirements that will help them succeed in meeting these goals and avoiding trouble. For example, this would include requiring the associate to respond to client communications within one business day. The client should receive a copy of any correspondence that the attorney sends or receives. Sample fee agreements and engagement and closing letters should be discussed. Proper and complete instruction on the firm calendar system is a must so that deadlines are kept and files aren’t neglected.

3. Develop a daily strategy on how to get there

The above list of expectations would overwhelm anyone, especially your novice attorney. The best way to implement these goals is to break them down into daily strategies. If you do have a billable hour requirement, figure out how many hours that would be during the day. Suggest a daily time for the associate to meet with his or her assigned staff to address the mail, phone calls and other communications of the day. Your expectations will be easier to meet if you both can create a systemic approach to handle the work.

4. Don’t make it like a trip to the principal’s office

Don’t focus on weaknesses and problems alone. It is important to “accentuate the positives.” When I meet with my mentees, I start off every meeting by asking them what is working well for them and what they enjoy working on. The mentorship process is not just about assuring the associate meets your expectations. It’s also about whether the law firm is meeting your new hire’s needs as well. Regularly, I ask what type of work they are not doing that they would like to see more of on their desk. Do they have the resources they need? You’re there to support them and figure out what works best for him or her.

5. Take extra time with billing.

Where I see most young attorneys struggle, and what they certainly don’t teach in law school, is how to effectively bill clients. Appropriate billing practices is another skill to learn just like trial advocacy, persuasive writing and efficient research. Too often, new attorneys don’t write down all the time it takes to handle a project because in their mind it took too long. New attorneys forget to write down billable work or don’t provide enough detail so the client understands the bill. Associates should be encouraged to write down all the time, even if the task took forever, or even if it is not on a type of matter that is not hourly billed work. Partners may have to edit the bill accordingly, but it does show that partner that the attorney is working.

6. Show the associate the books

In most of the small firms in which I have worked, there is often a reluctance to open the firm’s financials to associates. I think this is a bad practice. If we use the financial information as a means by which to evaluate an associate’s performance, then the associate should be able to see that information. Further, we are training our associates to be future partners or managers. Revealing the overhead costs of law practice and showing how they fit into that, breaks the natural tendency of an associate to think they work for a law firm and starts the process of buying into the notion that they are the firm.

7. Involve the staff

None of us can do what we do without our staff members that make it happen. Your associate is no different. Invite your associate’s staff members to the initial meetings so they will fully understand what is expected of the associate and to help implement the daily goals and systems.

8. Don’t make assumptions that your associate knows what to do

Further, don’t assume they are motivated by the same things you are.

9. Be a human

Long ago, you too were a terrified young associate, eager to do your job well and with no earthly clue how to do it. Also, we have seen co-workers struggle with the difficulties of law practice and the potential traps along the way. So not only should you mentor your associate on how to be financially successful, but also on how to set a good work/life balance, how to recognize mental illness and how best to deal with stress and anxiety. All these personal things come with us when we walk in the door every day so we should create an environment where such talk is possible.

10. Set a good example

Most of this article really is a re-hash of the best practices for an attorney and instilling these in the daily mindset of your associate. In addition to talking about these strategies with your new hire, you will need to model these practices as well. 