It is a hornbook principle of legal practice that you will live and die by your book of business if you work at a law firm. So great is the emphasis on developing such a book that associates (particularly junior associates) often do not realize that their first client is just a couple doors down the hall. Indeed, before you are—hopefully—promoted to partner (and let’s be honest, if you are an associate who plans to remain in the private sector, that is generally the goal), the partners you work for as an associate have to trust in your abilities as a lawyer. No associate is ever going to make partner if they have a bad reputation or the partnership lacks confidence in them. So how do you demonstrate that you are an all-star associate ready to work hard and—hopefully—one day become a partner? The answer may surprise you because it is so simple: treat every partner you work for as a client.
Congratulations! For many of you reading this, you just got your first client(s). Who knew it would be that easy? I’m sorry to inform you that there will be no origination for this client unfortunately, but the future benefits you will reap will make following this advice worthwhile. Now I’m not saying this is going to be an easy endeavor and may take years of effort. Certainly, as you are probably already well aware, law firm life is a mixture of great people and others with “quirky” personalities. If you learn to handle partners in each category, you will undoubtedly succeed (and be better prepared for outside client interactions). So what does it mean to treat a partner as a client? Every action you take with a partner should be in the furtherance of your goal to build trust and confidence and retain work from that partner (just as you would with an outside client). The following provides a good starting point for how to approach this task.
Be Responsive
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