A friend of mine commented recently, “I think everyone should have to get fired from their job at least once in their lifetime.”
“Oh, great,” I replied, my mind on the shaky global economy and my own job security.
“Well, I don’t mean you, personally,” he assured me. “But I do think everyone should have to get fired at least once so that they will realize it’s not personal, it’s just business.”
I found his perspective interesting, although I was not sure I agreed with it (and not simply because I was one of “those” people who has yet to be fired from a job.) I understood its genesis, of course. My friend worked for a small, family-owned engineering company all the way through college. He was treated like a member of the family, and was invited to everything from baby christenings to client dinners. In his fourth year, when the economy took an unexpected downturn and business dried up, all non-family employees were laid off. Including him. So, in his case, it wasn’t personal.
When the economy takes a sudden, unexpected, or prolonged turn for the worse, businesses have to respond if they are to survive – and, like it or not, law firms are businesses. Indeed, things that would have seemed unfathomable when the economy was booming have today become an unfortunate reality of the legal world: Top tier law firms retracting offers to summer associates, delayed start dates, salary reductions based on hours billed or at a flat percentage, salary freezes, massive layoffs of legal and support personnel, the dissolution of established firms, hasty mergers that seem more like corporate takeovers, and more.
The changing times have resulted in increased anxiety levels among all employees, but particularly (or so it seems) among incoming associates who have little source of comparison or experience. When one such associate recently asked a group of more senior associates what she could do to maximize her job security, the advice she received started with business practicalities, but ended on a more personal note.
For the practicalities, it was suggested that she should plan to arrive in the office before the partners to whom she was assigned, update assigning attorneys on her progress throughout each assignment, be diligent and thorough, follow-up on satisfaction levels with her work and not be shy about asking for more work, particularly from those with whom she had established a relationship. In short, be a good attorney and actively seek work.
As several of the more senior associates recognized, however, sometimes even harder than impressing a partner is staying focused and productive when there is not enough billable work to go around. It must be something about type-A overachievers. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When the going gets easy, the tough get bored.
So, speaking as much to ourselves as our junior colleague, it was suggested that she could use her down time to read up on current legal issues, participate in continuing legal education web seminars, write a client update or legal article, join a firm committee or assist in organizing a firm event, and/or take on a pro bono representation.
On a more personal note, several associates commented that she should also always be mindful that law firms are looking for attorneys who can not only write up a bang-on research memo and meet their target billable hours, but can interact with their colleagues and mingle appropriately with clients when the opportunity presents itself.
Although I wondered whether we might be overloading our young colleague as her eyes widened with the mounting advice, I realized that even in today’s somewhat dire economy, the advice we were giving her was very much the same as that which I had received nearly eight years ago, when it was I who was the “newbie” first year associate. Law firms have always sought to recruit and retain well rounded associates. In a tough economy, it just might be a little more important to be one.
The fact that most businesses are interested in the person in addition to their work product is why I ultimately disagree with my friend’s proposition that everyone should have to get fired at least once in their life. I do agree that being fired serves as the ultimate reminder that a business is just a business. Remembering that beforehand, however, might also prevent the need for the lesson to be learned in the first place.
Amy J. McMaster is an associate in the environmental department at Venable in Washington.
