Law practice has, more often than not, been defined by generational gaps, and their navigation. In part, that's because old lawyers tend not to retire, but to just fade away.  That means that the generation gulf can be wider in law firms than in most other professions. It's definitely not unheard of for a nonagenarian lawyer to be sharing an office with a 20-something fresh out of law school. Because that's the case, issues related to generational preferences are more advanced in the legal industry than elsewhere.

And, things are about to get weird.

Millennial attorneys are the next greatest generation; and, they're about to swamp traditional law firms with their presence. Just by sheer numbers, millennial attorneys will have a significant effect on law practice deep into the 21st century. Given that fact, there will be two difficult transition periods during which traditional law firms will begin to onboard and manage millennial attorneys in new ways, and eventually transition those same attorneys into management roles in law firms. But, that first epoch is where our concern mostly lies in this piece.

Google 'what millennials want', and prepare to be overwhelmed by the results. Of course, that's not exactly the same question as 'what do millennials want at work'—even if the volume of search results is similar. Generally speaking, though, some conclusions can be drawn about how millennial employees, including associate attorneys, are different from prior generations of law firm employees. Whereas employees have traditionally felt more comfortable working a 9-5ish schedule, millennials seek out flexible work schedules. This is in part due to their desire to access modern technologies. Cloud-based software, which most companies run on now, allows for a 'work anywhere, work anytime'-level of professional freedom. Perhaps because of this, millennials tend to be generally more results-driven than employees of prior generations. If the idea is that you can work more or less when you see fit, so long as you get the job done, the result begins to matter far more than the hours worked. Millennials also seek out more feedback from their bosses, which also makes sense in light of a results-driven culture—following a result, the delivery of a postmortem is important to enlighten steps for the next such project. But, millennials also desire continuing feedback on their work—not annual reviews. As part of this, more millennials seek out a collaborative environment, in which everyone is working together (more or less), and sharing ideas—even when that collaboration takes place online. They're also looking for a social-forward workplace, where colleagues can become friends, even outside of work 'hours'. Finally, millennials prefer faster career progression than employees of prior generations have been willing to accept.

Okay now, raise your hand if you know of any currently-existing law firm that would suit those requirements? Didn't think so. As we all know, law firms value tradition over all else. Law firm managers and managing partners want regular work hours, could be described as Luddites, slavishly adhere to the billable hour model, value process over results, deliver irregular feedback (if they deliver feedback at all), work in silos and are wedded to a dues-paying structure, that is not conducive to rapid advancement. Those are problems, because each of those strongly-held law firm management tenets chafes against millennial workplace preferences. And, that means that a reckoning is coming. Either law firms will end up revising their policies to accommodate millennial workplace preferences, or millennials will leave the profession for other jobs—at least until they can wrest control over traditional law firms, and make the changes themselves.

So, if you're not prepared for the millennial lawyer, best get to steppin'.

Jared D. Correia is CEO of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting.