1. 8 / January 2015 — NALP Bulletin
Coaching Incoming Associates
on Essential Communication Skills
by Jennifer Greiner
Jennifer Greiner is President of Greiner Consulting, LLC.
While everyone agrees that it is crucial for
incoming associates to establish themselves as
trustworthy, reliable members of their practice
groups as quickly as possible, the “how” isn’t
always readily apparent to new lawyers. Sub-
stantive knowledge and skills development are
important; but associates need much more
than practical legal skills in order to successfully
integrate into a firm, garner key assignments,
and become a “go to” resource.The current
economicand business climate dictates that
new associates build positive internal reputa-
tions in order to solidify their place at their firm.
The approach that associates take in their
written and verbal communication is critical
and serves as the foundation upon which
associates will build their key relationships.
PD professionals play an important and
valuable role in educating associates on the
communication skills and conventions that are
needed to succeed in a firm, whether through
one-on-one coaching or in a group setting. What
follows are ideas, themes, and guidelines that
can be included in these early and ongoing
conversations.
Written Communication
During the course of my 20+ years counseling
attorneys at all levels, including junior associ-
ates, I’ve too often seen a new associate under-
mine his reputation through a hastily written or
improperly addressed email, a timid or unclear
voicemail, or an overly informal text. With
today’s technology, good practices take on even
greater significance, particularly as associates
are trying to make an immediate, positive
impression on partners and other senior
lawyers with whom they are working.
While there are generational issues at play
when it comes to communications, the practice
of law is a business with an attendant formality
that needs to be acknowledged and embraced.
All forms of communication used in a workset-
ting, including emails and texts, are business
communications and should be appropriately
drafted. Associates should tread cautiously
when first learning the communication prefer-
ences of their superiors and should follow their
senior attorneys’ lead, particularly with respect
to texting. I customarily advise junior attorneys
to avoid texting with senior attorneys until they
indicate that texting is an acceptable mode of
communication.
The practice of law requires clear use of
language that is free of mistakes or uninten-
tional ambiguity. Internal communications can
provide supervisors with a glimpse of how the
associate might communicate with a client. As
such, associates should be made aware of how
essential it is to proof their emails to ensure
that there are no grammatical errors or typos,
and in most cases, abbreviations should be
avoided to ensure clarity and understanding.
Incoming associates are often unaware of com-
mon conventions regarding how a multiple-
recipient email is addressed — i.e., that the
recipients are usually added in order of senior-
ity. In our experience of offering training to
graduating law students and new associates,
this particular piece of information is consis-
tently appreciated.
In the instantaneous environment in which we
now live and work, associates should still resist
replying immediately to a text or email if doing
so will sacrifice quality.The associate’s reputa-
tion will be more greatly impacted by a poorly
reasoned or loosely drafted response than a
slightly delayed one. Associates should also
refrain from including anything in an email or
text that they would not want forwarded to
another recipient, and should use “reply all” or
“bcc” only when absolutely necessary.The use
of “bcc” is particularly fraught with potential
problems, especially if the person who received
the email via the bccfunction does not look
closely at how he was included and decides
to hit the “reply all” button. In lieu of using bcc,
I advise that the sender forward the sent email
to the additional recipient.
While electroniccommunications are an essen-
tial tool in today’s law firm environment, they
are no substitute for the power of in-person
interaction. Engaging in conversations and
stopping by the office of a colleague or supervi-
sor is critical when establishing relationships,
becoming a familiar face within the firm, and
growing one’s reputation.
“The approach that associates take in their written and verbal
communication is critical and serves as the foundation upon
which associates will build their key relationships.”

2. 9
VerbalCommunication
The manner in which an associate speaks and
what she chooses to share with partners and
other attorneys provide insights into how she
would communicate with clients and represent
the firm. Early communications should thus lay
the seeds for the nature and depth of responsi-
bilities that might be delegated down the road.
Because associates’ communications reflect on
both themselves and their firms, they should
strive to convey maturity, intelligence, trustwor-
thiness, and reliability.
How can associates make the appropriate
impression from day one onward? Advise them
to treat every exchange with partners and
senior lawyers as if they were interacting with
an important client. By way of example, they
should go into meetings as prepared as possi-
ble, endeavoring to convey an understanding
of assignments and their supervisors’ needs.
Associates should feel free to ask any necessary
questions of their superiors, but their queries
should display their intelligence and enthusi-
asm, and also their attunement — questions
should demonstrate that they have paid close
attention to the information that has been
conveyed to date. Approaching a superior with
a question that has already been clearly
answered in one way or another is a surefire
way to raise doubts about an associate’s com-
mitment, capability, and attention to detail. In
that vein, any time an associate meets with a
superior, the associate should come prepared
to take notes. It does not instill confidence in
a senior attorney if an associate is receiving
instructions without writing anything down,
opting instead to commit instructions to the
fallibility of memory.
Conversations with fellow associates and staff
members should also be appropriate for a
business setting. As these relationships evolve
and certain friendships develop, associates
should remain cognizant that confidences they
might share with colleagues can still impact
their reputation at the firm. Stories have a
tendency to circulate among fellow associates,
staff, and more senior attorneys, including
partners. Associates should therefore consis-
tently use good judgment when deciding
what to divulge to colleagues at all levels.
Communication as the Key to
Successful Working Relationships
Associates need to understand that supervising
attorneys are likely to have different styles and
varied expectations with regard to working with
more junior attorneys. At the outset of a work-
ing relationship, associates should take the
initiative to ask the more senior attorneys how
they would like to stay abreast of the associ-
ate’s progress on an assigned task, particularly
when the project is of a longer duration —
e.g., would the senior attorney like to receive
periodicupdates of the associate’s progress or
solely a completed draft? And, if she would like
periodicupdates, would she prefer in-person
conversations or email updates? Not all senior
attorneys make their expectations clear in this
regard, and associates can convey an extra level
of commitment and reliability by taking the lead
to ensure that they fully understand how each
senior attorney prefers to work.
Similarly, each senior attorney likely has some-
what different expectations regarding written
work product, both in terms of layout and of
how the content is presented. When working for
an attorney for the first time, associates are
most likely to produce work product that will be
well received if they have had an opportunity to
review past assignments that other associates
have completed for that particular supervising
attorney. It could be instructive for the associate
to ask the senior attorney for examples of what
he deems especially good work product, or to
consult with a more senior associate who has
successfully worked for that particular attorney.
One of the best learning opportunities for a new
associate is inclusion at a client meeting, but it
is not uncommon for associates to stumble a bit
in their first few client meetings, either because
they are participating too much or not partici-
pating enough. Because it comes down to the
senior attorney’s expectations, it is incumbent
upon the associate to ensure that he is com-
pletely clear about the nature of the role he
should play in the meeting.
Associates should always ensure that they
are maintaining a consistent, respectful tone
irrespective of whom they are communicating
with.They should remember that their reputa-
tion is formed both by how they communicate
with superiors and by how they treat those who
support them and their practice. It is equally as
important to success to learn to manage down
as it is to manage up!
Conclusion
Incoming associates’ budding reputations are
greatly impacted by how they communicate,
and therefore associates can benefit greatly
from early coaching and training on the particu-
lars of standard law firm interactions. PD
professionals are in a particularly strong
position to serve as key advisors in this regard.
By utilizing sound judgment and recognized
business standards in their written and verbal
communications, associates will be well on
their way to establishing themselves as valued
members of the firm. n