Millennials Approaching Partnership: Now What?

Last month, we discussed the fact that since debuting in law firms nearly a decade ago, the latest generation of lawyers has raised more than a few eyebrows. Workplace flexibility, firm culture integration, meaningful training with takeaways and clearly defined billable hour goal options were not nearly as mainstream before the arrival of the Millennials. As we discussed, each year, law firms continue to invest in Millennial associates, knowing that they must wait several years for an actual return. However, as more Millenials continue to graduate from law school, more continue to advance as lawyers. Although legal professional development administrators continue to fight the good fight with respect to new associate development and integration, we must now, more than ever, pay closer attention to what happens AFTER they are past the initial stages of development and start focusing on the fact that Millennial lawyers are getting closer to partnership. The discussion concludes herein.

Career Navigation

Many Millennial associates have responded well to checklists and roadmap-like developmental options. They find the brief, but valuable takeaways to be a solid resource for career navigation. Law firms have continued to accommodate their unique needs through enhancements of competency-based initiatives, performance reviews, mentorship/sponsorship, alternative billable hour tracks and bite-sized learning. While these tools are helpful, it is important to remember that the bells and whistles of developmental options cannot stop once an associate is crowned partner. While the number of Millennial partners is still small, the pitfalls they may face during their first year should not be taken lightly.

After the excitement of the vote, larger office, and other celebrations die down, some new Millennial partners find themselves overwhelmed and struggling. Not knowing where else to turn, they often retreat to their comfort zone of professional development. New partners may raise anything from basic questions to serious items such as business development anxiety. Although one of the main goals of legal professional development is to equip associates with the best possible resources to become partner, administrators are also encouraged to focus on implementing different tools to help newly promoted partners transition more effectively. Given the time and attention we have spent pondering on how to develop Millennials as associates, it is crucial to start working with practice group leaders and other senior figures in the firm to build the same foundation to ensure new partner success. Professional development must be prepared to tackle some of the early challenges Millennials may face at the onset of partnership.

Roadmaps

I've received and signed my offer documents, now what? A roadmap is a critical component to a Millennial's professional development success. Many Millennials tend to question nearly all aspects of employment offers, so it is essential that firms are now better prepared to have answers (or enhanced answers) for those questions that accompany partnership offers. Once offers are made and accepted, most firms have a sit-down meeting or formal orientation with the managing partner or some other senior management figure. This type of exercise serves as a great introduction to the partnership process, but also consider what other logistical and mechanical issues that may be raised. The goal is not to bombard the new Millennial partner with additional meetings, but to provide the information in a brief, but useful manner, before it is asked. Constructing this information in a “how to get from Point A to Point B” manner will eliminate much of the Millennials' confusion and anxiety. While additional questions will be raised, Millennials will most likely be reassured about the firm's investment in their long-term career success.

Mentoring

I've now been assigned an “official” group of associates to supervise/mentor. Help me! Some firms have a formal workflow structure in place in which partners are assigned to a particular group of associates, and are responsible for feeding their dockets. While new partners will have worked under these systems as associates, they may not have a clear understanding of what it takes to be responsible for the workflow of other attorneys. Regardless of how much exposure to workflow systems that Millennials have had (or how much they think they know), it is important for professional development to work with the practice group leader or those in charge of workflow to provide a thorough orientation on the topic from the partner perspective. The orientation should not only consist of a live/virtual training module, but also a checklist or other resources that might be useful for future reference. Millennials' anxiety levels will eventually rise with respect to work distribution, and not having enough education on the topic will simply add fuel to the fire. This will be particularly challenging for those whose own dockets are still primarily “fed” by the clients of senior partners as well as those who may become responsible for the dockets of associates fresh out of law school.

Mentorship/sponsorship is also a challenge as it is a common concern for the overall Millennial generation. While many Millennials have formed their mentoring relationships organically, they still struggle with the fact that there are not enough hours in a day for all partners to be effective mentors. They may now worry about facing the same pressures and being labeled as ineffective mentors in their first few years of partnership. Legal professional development administrators are encouraged to continue to provide resources to the Millennials, only this time, focus them on the challenges of being new to the “mentoring” side of things as well as better educating them on the difference between the concepts of mentoring and coaching. This will provide them with a better sense of the expectations for mentors. They may also be able to form a better appreciation for the concept, given their experience as associates. Due to the lack of time available to new partners, these resources will most likely be better received if they are made available on demand, such as bite sized e-Learning modules or individual counseling sessions. Whether the challenges are about workflow responsibilities or mentoring, this is also a great opportunity to provide new partners with other training topics such as how to conduct a performance review or more advanced supervisory skills.

Conclusion

Although it is hard to imagine Millennials as partners, this concept will be a continued challenge for law firms. Given the shock after the arrival of the Millennials, legal professional development administrators are encouraged to use the knowledge from this experience to be proactive with anticipating their unique needs. Although Millenial partners present a new and difficult obstacle, legal professional development administrators are the right people for the job!

Sabrina Franconeri, D.Sc, is the Global Head of SP Learning at a global consulting firm in Washington, DC.