{"id":108355,"date":"2025-02-13T16:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T00:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/13\/gen-z-lawyer-tells-senior-associate-nah-you-do-that\/"},"modified":"2025-02-13T16:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T00:46:12","slug":"gen-z-lawyer-tells-senior-associate-nah-you-do-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/13\/gen-z-lawyer-tells-senior-associate-nah-you-do-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Gen Z Lawyer Tells Senior Associate, \u2018Nah, You Do That\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Generally speaking, \u201cthe kids are all right.\u201d Older generations consistently bitch and moan about young people making the exact same mistakes the rapidly fossilizing pretend they never made, but in the end, the next crop turns out fine. Gen Z may actually be breaking that proud tradition. Or at least some representatives of the latest generation to enter the workforce are ruining the reputation of the whole cohort.<\/p>\n

Consider this Reddit post over at r\/Biglaw that takes insubordination to a level that would make Eric Cartman seem like a model employee.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What in the Bartleby is this nonsense? That\u2019s not even defiance. That\u2019s performance art.<\/p>\n

Like a splinter in your brain, you will never know rest as you forever contemplate what this junior thinks their job actually entails. Inserting edits is the junior associate job description par excellence<\/em>. It\u2019s the only thing standing between a first-year and total obsolescence. Can we get a look at these timesheets? How is this lawyer spending the day?<\/p>\n

\n

6.4 \u2014 Nothing but stand at window in dead-wall revery.<\/strong>
1.5 \u2014 Workshop memo declining next assignment.<\/strong>
0.3 \u2014 Click \u201cMark as Unread\u201d on email that requested work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How did we get here? The pandemic robbed these young lawyers of formative years of professional socialization. Not just because they spent some of college Zooming from their couches, but even after the lockdown, getting firm lawyers to physically go out and meet students almost certainly suffered.<\/p>\n

Current midlevels and seniors might have lost key delegation instincts during that era, choosing to do simple tasks themselves rather than hassle with distributing work over teleconference. This first-year might \u2014 might<\/em> \u2014 simply not understand the concept of edits being handled by anyone but a midlevel. <\/p>\n

Or they might just be tragically spoiled from a helicopter upbringing.<\/p>\n

Whatever the issue in this situation, this story seems like an extreme manifestation of a trend firms have shared a lot lately: young lawyers are simply behind where they need to be professionally. <\/p>\n

As one might imagine, the replies have thoughts:<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If it\u2019s transactional work, let\u2019s not sleep on \u201cChief counsel for DUBIOUSCOIN ($PONZI).\u201d<\/p>\n

The AI conversation involves a lot of hype, but between AI and AI-enabled ALSPs, the rote, brute force work that fills the day of a junior associate is disappearing fast<\/a>. The number one priority of a junior associate in 2025 has to be demonstrating indispensability. Everyone with authority over your job \u2014 or, even more importantly, with input valued by those with authority \u2014 needs to be impressed at all times. Biglaw as an industry has operated as a pyramid scheme since it was a twinkle in Paul Cravath\u2019s eye, but attrition becomes a lot more professionally existential when junior lawyer classes shrink.<\/p>\n

As for the midlevel, seeking guidance among the wisdom of crowds is a good start, but the original post probably should\u2019ve been dumped into an email \u201cTo: Senior Partner, Re: Get A Load Of This.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Channeling Barack Obama: yes you can! \u201cDo it or you won\u2019t last long\u201d might be too harsh, but as a supervisor you definitely have the right if not the obligation to say, \u201chey, yeah, this is not a request and you probably should exorcise \u2018you do that\u2019 from your \u2018asshole-to-senior\u2019 vocabulary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honestly, this is the FIRST thing that came into my mind when I read the post:<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thankfully, some more conscientious Redditors offered a more human resources appropriate response for this junior who has dishonored their ancestors.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While a substantial driver of the return-to-office push is just a bunch of partners who miss being surrounded by sycophantic juniors all day, there\u2019s definitely something to be said for soft learning. All the formal training in the world can\u2019t replace the sheer, soul-crushing power of seeing a room full of colleagues giving you that look<\/em> after doing something uniquely stupid.<\/p>\n

But midlevels and seniors (and partners) also need in-person interaction to learn basic management skills. While Biglaw firms function like high-end corporations, the workflow is managed by people who never learn to manage. Companies elevate employees to management and send them to seminars to learn how to effectively lead people. Or at least to learn corporate buzzwords that simulate leadership. Lawyers are elevated based on their ability as lawyers which is not the same and may well be counterproductive to management. Being able to look folks in the eye matters because exclusively working with faceless cogs over the internet doesn\u2019t build teams.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Gen Z, come collect your stray. We\u2019d send them back ourselves, but apparently, they prefer not to<\/em> move.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Gen Z Lawyer Tells Senior Associate, \u2018Nah, You Do That\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Generally speaking, \u201cthe kids are all right.\u201d Older generations consistently bitch and moan about young people making the exact same mistakes the rapidly fossilizing pretend they never made, but in the end, the next crop turns out fine. Gen Z may actually be breaking that proud tradition. Or at least some representatives of the latest generation to enter the workforce are ruining the reputation of the whole cohort.<\/p>\n

Consider this Reddit post over at r\/Biglaw that takes insubordination to a level that would make Eric Cartman seem like a model employee.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What in the Bartleby is this nonsense? That\u2019s not even defiance. That\u2019s performance art.<\/p>\n

Like a splinter in your brain, you will never know rest as you forever contemplate what this junior thinks their job actually entails. Inserting edits is the junior associate job description par excellence<\/em>. It\u2019s the only thing standing between a first-year and total obsolescence. Can we get a look at these timesheets? How is this lawyer spending the day?<\/p>\n

\n

6.4 \u2014 Nothing but stand at window in dead-wall revery.<\/strong>
1.5 \u2014 Workshop memo declining next assignment.<\/strong>
0.3 \u2014 Click \u201cMark as Unread\u201d on email that requested work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How did we get here? The pandemic robbed these young lawyers of formative years of professional socialization. Not just because they spent some of college Zooming from their couches, but even after the lockdown, getting firm lawyers to physically go out and meet students almost certainly suffered.<\/p>\n

Current midlevels and seniors might have lost key delegation instincts during that era, choosing to do simple tasks themselves rather than hassle with distributing work over teleconference. This first-year might \u2014 might<\/em> \u2014 simply not understand the concept of edits being handled by anyone but a midlevel. <\/p>\n

Or they might just be tragically spoiled from a helicopter upbringing.<\/p>\n

Whatever the issue in this situation, this story seems like an extreme manifestation of a trend firms have shared a lot lately: young lawyers are simply behind where they need to be professionally. <\/p>\n

As one might imagine, the replies have thoughts:<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If it\u2019s transactional work, let\u2019s not sleep on \u201cChief counsel for DUBIOUSCOIN ($PONZI).\u201d<\/p>\n

The AI conversation involves a lot of hype, but between AI and AI-enabled ALSPs, the rote, brute force work that fills the day of a junior associate is disappearing fast<\/a>. The number one priority of a junior associate in 2025 has to be demonstrating indispensability. Everyone with authority over your job \u2014 or, even more importantly, with input valued by those with authority \u2014 needs to be impressed at all times. Biglaw as an industry has operated as a pyramid scheme since it was a twinkle in Paul Cravath\u2019s eye, but attrition becomes a lot more professionally existential when junior lawyer classes shrink.<\/p>\n

As for the midlevel, seeking guidance among the wisdom of crowds is a good start, but the original post probably should\u2019ve been dumped into an email \u201cTo: Senior Partner, Re: Get A Load Of This.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Channeling Barack Obama: yes you can! \u201cDo it or you won\u2019t last long\u201d might be too harsh, but as a supervisor you definitely have the right if not the obligation to say, \u201chey, yeah, this is not a request and you probably should exorcise \u2018you do that\u2019 from your \u2018asshole-to-senior\u2019 vocabulary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honestly, this is the FIRST thing that came into my mind when I read the post:<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thankfully, some more conscientious Redditors offered a more human resources appropriate response for this junior who has dishonored their ancestors.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While a substantial driver of the return-to-office push is just a bunch of partners who miss being surrounded by sycophantic juniors all day, there\u2019s definitely something to be said for soft learning. All the formal training in the world can\u2019t replace the sheer, soul-crushing power of seeing a room full of colleagues giving you that look<\/em> after doing something uniquely stupid.<\/p>\n

But midlevels and seniors (and partners) also need in-person interaction to learn basic management skills. While Biglaw firms function like high-end corporations, the workflow is managed by people who never learn to manage. Companies elevate employees to management and send them to seminars to learn how to effectively lead people. Or at least to learn corporate buzzwords that simulate leadership. Lawyers are elevated based on their ability as lawyers which is not the same and may well be counterproductive to management. Being able to look folks in the eye matters because exclusively working with faceless cogs over the internet doesn\u2019t build teams.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Gen Z, come collect your stray. We\u2019d send them back ourselves, but apparently, they prefer not to<\/em> move.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Generally speaking, \u201cthe kids are all right.\u201d Older generations consistently bitch and moan about young people making the exact same mistakes the rapidly fossilizing pretend they never made, but in the end, the next crop turns out fine. Gen Z may actually be breaking that proud tradition. Or at least some representatives of the latest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":108356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Headshot-300x200-2UtjKX.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}