One thing that many recently employed graduates and newly admitted lawyers struggle with is how to get the most out of every assignment or task. There are a variety of reasons for this. One main contributor is that a majority of law school assignments are designed with a different purpose and different factors in mind than most forms of actual legal practice. Young attorneys need to be adaptable to working in an environment that emphasizes self-directed learning rather than the curriculum-based structure of law school. Additionally, young attorneys can get caught in a mindset of finishing assignments and projects as quickly as possible without really taking the time to pause and think about how they are improving as an attorney. Overall, this mindset can cause young attorneys to produce mediocre work product in the long term, stunting their career growth.
To combat this, young lawyers need to utilize reflective learning while working on their assigned tasks. Reflective learning is the conscious process of analyzing what one has done or is doing and translating that experiential knowledge to future practice. It enables one to learn from a wide range of situations, apply new information in a broad context and develop professionally. This process is critical to all attorneys, but especially young attorneys who lack years of experience in certain key aspects of practicing law.
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