Tips for law firms on mentoring first-year lawyers

I am a first year. If you're reading this, you've probably been there (whether it's been a couple of years or a couple of decades). I was one of the thousands of law students who were fortunate enough to pass the Summer 2024 Bar Examination.  Not long ago, I was a 3L law student walking the hallowed halls of Pepperdine Law School feeling like I made it. That feeling only increased when I passed the Bar.

Then the poetry of gainfully securing employment faded into the prose of reality. Once I started work, the thought quickly (and routinely) began to cross my mind: "How do I tell you I have no idea what you're talking about?"--a question that I'm certain no partner or senior attorney wants running through their junior attorney's head. Yet I can guarantee this is a thought that has crossed the mind of more than one newly barred attorney. Or at least, it has for me.

I imagine that it's easy to forget what it was like to be a first-year attorney. It is easy to divorce oneself from what it feels like to hear new terms on a daily basis and understand their strategic and procedural importance. So as this year's crop of baby lawyers sets out to prove themselves, I decided to share this refresher on what it's like to be us--and to share some tips on how to bring out the best in us.

Remember that everything is new to me

While I pride myself on my ability to figure things out on my own (that I pulled off a passing grade in 1L Civil Procedure could not be clearer proof of this skill), it is also one of my greatest downfalls. It means that until embarrassingly recently, you could still find me furtively Googling, "What is a demurrer?" This also unfortunately contributes to a severe case of imposter syndrome. But this is no sudden onset case. As a woman of color and the first in her family to attend law school, this feeling is familiar. Transitioning into life as a first-year attorney has only caused my symptoms to worsen: I read emails 10 times over before I hit send, replay conversations in my head until I'm absolutely positive everyone hates me, and wonder when people around me will realize I'm not cut out for this.

Teach me to swim

I'll admit that my case of imposter syndrome might be particularly intense, but such is the life of a baby lawyer. I believe one of the biggest obstacles to success for new lawyers is in expecting us to learn through trials by fire. It's easy for someone fluent in legalese to forget that, to us, conversations often sound as if they're spoken in a foreign language. Our ears will excitedly perk up when we hear a familiar word or two, but we often feel like non-English speakers hearing English for the first time. While this is normal--learning a new language takes time and effort--the learning process is going to take far longer and be far less productive if we don't feel like we can ask for help. First-years are not unlike babies learning to swim. While you can throw us in the water and hope we can instinctively flip face up, we won't learn how to backstroke until you get in there with us and show us how.

So be patient with me. Give me clear instructions. And please don't get angry if I ask a lot of questions and come back with more. I promise I am worth the investment of time and money, and so are my peers.  

We are eager

All of this is not to say that I or any other young attorney isn't just as highly capable, equipped, and intelligent to take on difficult work--three years of academic immersion is bound to cause some kind of effect. In fact, it might be the case that this new generation of lawyers is uniquely capable of tackling hard work. Fresh out of school, we're at the very beginning of our careers; we're finally the bigshot attorneys our younger selves always dreamed we would be. We couldn't be more excited and ready to prove ourselves. Even when handed scut research assignments--which we practically begged to take on--we're preternaturally eager and enthusiastic.

We have great ideas

It is also important to remember that our newness carries the benefit of a fresh perspective. We see things in different ways, and we bring to legal conversations a new and unvarnished view that combines our academic training and the perspective of our generation--which will eventually be the next generation of leaders in the legal field. As we're getting started, not every idea we have will be a good one. But hear us anyway. We have not yet drunk the proverbial Kool-Aid, and we will come up with thoughts that will help move the case along. We might bring to your attention a new applicable civil procedure statute that is totally foreign to you but on which we just wrote a whole three-hour exam. Or perhaps we know just where to find that crucial piece of evidence that seems to have all but vanished from the internet.

We have balance

Many of us also value personal growth as much as we do professional growth. Though some may argue that prioritizing personal time and individuality is counterintuitive to rapid career success--"time away from work is time away from work"--I would say otherwise. I know that without proper rest and time away from work, I am altogether useless. You couldn't get me to spell "dismissal," let alone seek one. That I value fostering personal skills, hobbies, and relationships does not run counter to a successful professional life. Indeed, nurturing an identity beyond my career feels especially important as someone just beginning to see what life can be like as a litigator. The expression "you cannot pour from an empty cup" rings especially true. Ensuring that we are personally fulfilled means we can give that much more to our firms and clients.

Bottom line

Imposter syndrome has no enemy like mentorship and encouragement. We may struggle to stick to our guns, to be as confident in our work as the attorneys we look up to, but with a kind reminder now and again that our hard work thus far has not been in vain--we might just dare to believe you when you say you believe in us. I can't guarantee that the little voice in our heads won't stop insisting we're not enough, but with a little patience and a guiding hand, we might be able to share our ideas and convictions in a steadier voice. In short, as the great historical philosopher ABBA wisely put it: "Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie; if you put me to the test, if you let me try; take a chance on me."