The legal profession needs teachers

Dear Legal Writer, No one enjoys receiving negative feedback, but no one enjoys giving it, either (—unless they’re just a jack*ss).

I used to dread it. I used to play out conversations in my mind over and over again. I’d try
—to script my message with just the right words
—to encourage + inspire without putting down,
—to get my explanations clear so they’d learn.

All that was for naught, though, if the associate didn’t want to be taught.

With some associates, I’d spend long sessions going over line edits to teach.

With others, if my explanation of one point didn’t land well, and the next, I’d often send them off for their admin to input, or we’d use mine. That meant giving up, and it was a shame.

🔹 And so, if you’re an associate, please do be willing to learn, and please do so amiably. Don’t be the one who pouts, makes the senior lawyer feel bad, and pushes them away.

🔹 And if you’re the partner, the onus is on you first. You need to be willing to teach. If you’re unwilling, you can hardly expect an associate to be willing to learn.

—That said, I am keenly aware there’s a reason I didn’t make partner. Plainly, the non-teachers are out there doing more important things for their firms than I did. Without the rainmakers, there’d be no clients for whom research needed done, no briefs to write, no client costs to consider at all.

I do get that.

🔸 Yet despite all that, if you ARE one of the lawyers who makes time to teach associates, I salute you. Keep up the good fight. The legal profession needs people like you.

The legal profession needs teachers.

💌 Amanda

#DearLegalWriter