Overview
Law360 quoted Chicago partner Michael Dockterman in an October 20 article titled “Four Things You Should Never Say to an Associate.” The article discusses several key phrases that partners should never utter to an associate.
Mr. Dockterman tells Law360 that partners he worked with while he was still an associate taught him early on that maintaining a life outside of law is the best way to ultimately succeed in the profession. Contrary to the situations often depicted on television and in the movies where young lawyers have to make deep personal sacrifices in order to keep their jobs, a partner should never make that request of an associate.
"I would never ask an associate whether s/he had her priorities straight because s/he was placing personal life ahead of professional obligations. We all have an obligation to fulfill the promises we make to clients and the responsibilities we take on as members of teams, but because the partner-associate relationship necessarily includes the presumption that more than one person is available to work on a matter — that is, there is at least one partner and one associate in the equation — there is always someone out there to pick up the slack when one of us has a personal issue that has to take priority in our lives," he says.
The full article can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
