Looking For Greener Pastures
Muriel and Hal are like many lawyers who have lost their love for practicing law. Losing the love of being a lawyer makes them likely candidates to leave their firm to look for greener pastures.
Countless attorneys everywhere blame their firms, just as Muriel and Hal. They complain about the long hours and lack of mentoring by partners for their predicament.
They leave their jobs only to find the same situation, or even worse. The grass always looks greener on the other side. However, green grass occurs when the grass is watered. How can each attorney and law firm water their grass?
Meet Muriel and Hal
Muriel trudged into her office on Monday morning, after she had clocked in 72 hours the previous week. She was unhappy. It took three strong cups of coffee to make her feel half-way awake. “It feels like I didn’t have a weekend. I never thought I would say this but, ‘I can’t wait for this week to be over.”
Hal is an associate at a mid-sized firm. “I spend too much time alone staring at my computer. Daily I look at yet another brief, researching or answering emails. I’m beginning to wonder whether the money worth it? I need interaction with other people.”
More than likely, Muriel and Hal, as well as thousands of attorneys similar to them, will leave their firms if things don’t change.
Meet Louis: Is It The Nature of the Beast?
When Louis, who is a partner with a firm, begins his week on Monday, he wonders how he can get all of the work completed. There is a massive amount of research and discovery that has to be completed.
Louis’ problem is that one associate on his team has just left last week, and another has just given notice. The senior associates have to pitch hit; his entire group is in chaos trying to get everything completed within the next three weeks before an impending court date.
To make matters worse, he has to begin interviewing new candidates that Human Resources has screened. Louis shakes his head, “I take way too much time in my practice interviewing, training and replacing lawyers. It is just the nature of the beast.”
Two Sides of the Coin
These two sides of the coin, or divisive situations coexist within many law firms. Muriel and Hal seek meaning, engagement and balance while Louis wants to have a steady group of associates to help him to complete his caseload.
- Must associates resign themselves to the fact that they will have to abandon their law firm to save themselves from burnout?
- Must law firms resign themselves that associates will continually come and then go?
- The major question is how can the law firm get the work done while creating an atmosphere that generates retention.
Top 4 Questions to be Answered
Question No. 1: How can work be completed without burning out associates?
Answer: The pod model (team model) has proven to get more work completed in less time.
Question No. 2: What can be done to combat the many hours of isolation (the silo effect)?
Answer: When associates work in teams, this generates engagement, a team pride, and enthusiasm.
Question No. 3: Can hours be modified in a way to retain associates yet still get the massive work done?
Answer: With a team, the work has to be done, and they can allow team members or rotate so that no one gets completely burned out.
Question No. 4: Will the law firm suffer financial loss if they change the model with associates?
Answer: Since the pod (team) works together lawyers are motivated to meet deadlines together, help each other, bounce ideas off each other, and more work is completed in less time.
Top 5 Steps To Help Lawyers Cope
- Staying in an excellent mental state if your responsibility. Stop blaming the firm. Your mental health cannot be ignored.
- Find something that relieves stress, like reading, working out, going to movies, and taking a walk. (Look for available resources to help you)
- Take your lunch away from your desk as much as possible. Your quality and accuracy will improve.
- Find a way to take a 15 – 20 power nap. Power naps can help your clarity and productivity.
- Look for ways to laugh. Laughter helps your endorphins, helps your mental state. Read funny books, watch relaxing or humorous movies, spend time with friends and family members that make you happy.
The Choice is Up to You
Bored, angry, burned out lawyers can become sloppy lawyers, and sloppy lawyers do a disservice to their clients and themselves. The dissatisfaction mounts and depression sets in.
Take pride! Attitude is everything. There is the story where two farmers go into a barn, and it is filled with horse manure.
The negative farmer, moans, and groans, and walks out disgusted. “I knew it!” He says. “There is always extra work for me. My life is one dissatisfying job after the next.” He throws his hands up in the air and walks out of the room.
The positive farmer looks at the pile after pile of manure that seemed to be stacked up to the ceiling, eyes a shovel in the corner. The positive farmer smiles as he shovels.
The negative farmer passes by the barn and sees the positive farmer smiling and shoveling. “What in the world are you doing?”
The positive farmer kept smiling and winked at the negative farmer, “With all of this horse manure, there must be a pony in here somewhere!”
Which Farmer Are You?
Associates: You can be the negative farmer that complains about your current situation at your law firm or you can find an opportunity to grow and to learn.
Law firms: Law firms that become like the positive farmer who begins to leverage collective power to create new opportunities for their associates that cause engagement, retention and increases firm profits or continue to complain about associates and attrition.
The choice is up to you.
If your law firm is trapped in procedures that cause your associates to leave too soon, email me at pamela@pameladeneuve.com or call 904-607-1211. We can set up a time to chat.
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