Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every Tuesday.

Q:I recently changed firms with a small group of other attorneys (both partners and associates). Although I am a midlevel associate, I am the most junior attorney in the group.

Since the move, the more "senior" associate in the group has begun to give me directions and assignments, review and offer commentary on my work without being asked, check the dockets of my cases and otherwise act as my supervisor. This was not the case at the old firm, most likely because there were plenty of more junior associates for him to use to hone his management skills.

It's getting to the point where I feel stunted in my professional development, as I should be at the point where I am working on my own without having someone looking over my shoulder at all times, especially someone just a couple years more senior. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks,
Junior

Dear Junior:

Well, I suppose you could move to another firm and therefore leave these problems behind. That is definitely an option for you.

Even though you have just made a job change, you didn't make the move on your own -- you moved with a group. In other words, partners moved to a new firm and, to your credit, took you along. Sadly, it is not all that unusual for an associate to make another move shortly after moving with a group.

Perhaps the firm is not what you had hoped it would be, or perhaps it was necessary for you to initially make the move since there would be no department left at the old firm once the group left. These are all rational and believable reasons for making a job change so soon after moving to a new firm with a group.

However, before you make any rash decisions to jump ship, you need to mull over what is going on in your department. I wonder why this senior associate has taken on the role of your supervisor, all of a sudden and out of the blue. Don't you find it a bit suspicious? Why would this person be paying such close attention to you unless asked to do so? Could it be that the partners don't have as much time to spend with you as they did at the old firm? Isn't it possible that they are incredibly busy trying to adapt to the new firm and get things straightened out with their clients? In the meantime, they want to make sure that you are adjusting to the new firm and that everything is in order with your work.

Unfortunately, it appears that your supervisor happens to be a bit overzealous. Whether or not your work warrants this kind of supervision is something only you can answer.

Probably, there is not a whole lot you can do about this except to sit down and talk with this senior associate and let him know how you are feeling. Perhaps he does not realize that he has been micromanaging you, or perhaps he doesn't realize that you do not need this kind of baby-sitting. In any event, I would have a heart-to-heart with him in a very nonthreatening and nondefensive way. Tell him you appreciate his care and concern but that you have been accustomed to a more independent practice environment and, lately, you are feeling very inhibited professionally.

My guess is that you are dealing with someone who a) doesn't know that he is smothering you and this has been totally unintentional or b) this is an individual with poor management skills and does not know how to manage someone without micromanaging. If the answer is the former, things will lighten up immediately after you have a meeting with him, and you will find your life returning to what it was at your old firm.

However, if the answer is the latter, you have to make some hard decisions. Either grin and bear it; go speak to the partners to see if they might be able to move you or him to a different area of the office (which may or may not bring some resolution to this situation); or, probably the best solution of all, spruce up your resume and start your job search.

I wish I had a better way out of this dilemma for you -- perhaps some of the readers of this column have been in similar situations and will send in some ideas, which I will reprint in a future column. Good luck!

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates