As a “veteran” with only 90 days of experience in a law office, what am I doing writing an article!?! Maybe the following tale will bring some laughter. If you are already working in the legal field, may the tale encourage your efforts to welcome and come alongside rookies. If you are not in a law office yet, perhaps the tale will help you know how to prepare. This tale is told in the second person to protect the innocent (or guilty?).
The first day at a new job has moments that are seared forever in your memory…the rest of the day is just a blur :) You are filled with so much nervousness and excitement that you arrive before the office is open and spend a nerve-wracking 15 minutes waiting to go into the building. This is good though because you can remind yourself to breath and pray.
The office is a boutique firm that specializes in an area of law you did not study with OBCL, so you know absolutely nothing except the layout of the office and that bit you know only because of the interview.
When you answer the phone watch out! Old habits die hard and you must stop yourself from accidently answering with the greeting from your former job. The one time you don’t catch yourself in time it turns out to be the senior partner’s wife on the other end of the line. Thankfully she is a sweet and understanding person. Anyway the whole office has a good laugh. Note to self: be able to laugh at your own expense.
On the first day you attempt to identify the office expert. You find your ally in the office manager who knows all the ins and outs of what is happening in the firm. To your great joy she takes you under her wing and is willing to answer questions. Who knew that helping with tedious humdrum tasks is a great relationship builder? You learn a lot from her by simply listening and watching. Never be afraid to ask seemingly dumb questions, like “how do I check the voicemail message on my desk phone?”
Your biggest goal and also your greatest challenge is to recognize and understand each attorney’s individual style. What schedule does he operate on? How does he like his projects organized? Is he paper based or computer oriented? What are his pet peeves? You pray for guidance in juggling the various tasks and schedules. This will be an ongoing study.
Before working here you thought you had a good memory. Now though your brain seems like a sieve and even simple things like transfering a phone call requires you to write down the name and case before you buzz the attorney so you can remember who is calling and why. Is dementia setting in or is it merely part of working in a fastpaced environment? You are given a simple task and you walk back to your desk to do it and by the time you get there the details are fuzzy (could those three people that stopped you on the way to ask questions or give other tasks have anything to do with it?) After three months you have trained yourself to always carry a notepad and write everything down, and by that point you are relieved of the fear of dementia because everyone else takes notes also and you are starting to recognize clients by voice on the phone. You get a big thrill the day you suddenly are able to go to the exact drawer, whip out the file, and turn to the exact page without consciously thinking about it.
Another WATCH OUT! issue you come to terms with is the danger of assuming that what you hear your supervisor say IS what he meant you to hear. During the first few weeks you are an eager beaver and complete tasks quickly and completely only to discover that what you give back to them is not what they meant at all. You recognize the wisdom of your boss’s mantra, “When finished, sum up!” Besides writing everything down, at the end of the conversation you reiterate back in your own words what you heard the other person ask you to do. You look foolish and waste valuable time when you fail to verify you understand what the other person is envisioning as the final product.
Speaking of time, on the first day you are introduced to a new computer program. It is a bit overwhelming and even frightening – it is the billing program. You face a dizzying assignment of trying to learn as fast as possible what can be billed and what cannot, how many hours you are expected to put in per month, and all of the codes and abbreviations. That isn’t the most brainwracking part though. You are an intelligent human being capable of drafting legal documents, communicating with courts and clients, and keeping organized. For the past three hours you have been working steadily, but now how do you describe on the billing program what you did in a way that shows the client what you did and how it provides benefit to them? Is there a “Billing Entries for Dummies?”
You start in the firm knowing you are a rookie, and the firm hires you knowing you are a rookie. Perfection is not demanded. What they are looking for is for you to have a “Can Do” attitude, ready to give your best, with the wisdom to recognize when you are beyond your experience level. The wise man has the humility to say “Yes I will do that. Is there someone who can take a few minutes to show me how?”
God bless on your final exams and as you prepare for the CLA exam.
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