In my line of work I spend a lot of time talking to lawyers, but mostly at the senior end. So I was interested to attend a recent event focused on the experiences of associates. Many of the concerns voiced at Legal Week‘s inaugural An audience with… Associates event were to be expected, with associates worrying about the pressures of trying to make it while the shadow of recession hangs over the market. Likewise, a profession that doesn’t have quite the same levels of certainty in terms of career track is a daunting prospect for those who feel partnership is harder to attain.
That I understood. But what surprised me was that there appeared to be a consistent anxiety regarding the pressures or expectations of winning business. On one hand, associates want early access to clients; indeed, they resent law firms that don’t give them that access. But the idea of bringing in clients doesn’t seem to be one that drives young lawyers, at least those at large commercial law firms. In some cases an ambivalence about partnership appears to be strongly connected with the belief that the role comes with an expectation of rainmaking prowess. A considerable number of aspiring lawyers fear they’ll hit five years’ PQE, bump up to senior associate and then find themselves unequipped for a world in which they must hunt what they eat.
