What Makes Associates Happy?

During your first year with a firm you may feel so happy to simply have a paying job (instead of paying law school tuition) that you really haven’t given much thought to whether or not you’re happy. After you’ve been there for a while, what sort of factors might influence your feelings about how satisfied you are? Various surveys of mid-level and older associates have identified several issues that determine career satisfaction:

• Workload/billable hours—after the dust settled from the high-tech induced salary explosion of 1999-2000, many firms raised their expectations regarding billable hours to justify the increases. Given that workloads were already demanding for associates, many of them rebelled and some firms are beginning to pay attention. What is your firms policy regarding billable hours? Or, phrased in another way, do you have a life outside of the office?

• Mentoring/training—given the relatively high salaries of new associates, some partners seem to expect them to produce immediately with a minimum amount of supervision. Many associates feel they work in the dark until their annual review and then are surprised at the feedback they get. Smart firms realize that relationships between partners and associates are important and ensure that associates have the opportunity to spend meaningful time with at least one partner. Other firms provide structured training opportunities for associates to learn specific skills, such as dealing with clients or managing a secretary. Does your firm have a mentoring program or do you work in the dark?

• Family-friendly—this is somewhat of an intangible factor. Some people might say that simply cutting back a little on the hours is a family-friendly act, but some firms have gone further. Typical actions range from providing on-site day care to extending the amount of parental leave available when a child is born or an immediate family member has a serious illness. Does your firm take a proactive position on family matters or is everyone expected to work around family crises?

• Quality of work assigned— there is really two parts to this factor—is the work interesting and is it satisfying. As a young associate you can expect to do a lot of routine tasks as you go through the learning process, but it’s also nice to get an interesting assignment every now and then. And, as you get more experience, you probably want a higher ratio of work that challenges you. This factor is related to mentoring in that both reflect the basic respect partners have for associates. When partners don’t respect associates it shows and the attrition rate can rise dramatically as associates leave in search of more meaningful work. Are you satisfied with the quality of your assignments or with those you anticipate getting in the future?

• Pro bono work— the law has always been an idealistic profession and many firms take their responsibility to the community very seriously. Pro bono work offers a simple but significant means of contributing back and many associates see it as an important part of their professional life. Firms that are serious about this issue allocate a certain number of hours for each associate to do pro bono work and encourage them to take advantage of the opportunity. Are you encouraged to do pro bono work or is it seen as a drag on your billable hours?

• Total compensation—obviously, compensation is important, but maybe not as important as you might think. It appears as though the money and benefits may not always be worth it if the working conditions are not acceptable. Notice that this factor is called total compensation. This refers to the complete package of base salary, bonuses and benefits. Increasingly, firms are getting creative about bonuses and the perks they offer that can raise one firm’s total compensation well above another firm’s that pays a higher base salary. Are you paid what you’re worth or do you feel you falling behind your law school buddies?

Each year, The American Lawyer does a survey of mid-level associates.