Lots of attorneys feel lost in their first year. I sure did. It’s easy to be consumed with the realization that you just finished 3 years of law school, passed the damn bar exam, and you are essentially incompetent to practice law because you learned nothing really practical.
The partner comes to you, gives you some paper you’ve never seen the likes of before, and says, “Write an opposition to this.” You have no clue where to begin. You ask for more clarification and he says, “Look up ‘motion to tax.’” Then, you’re on your own. You never heard of a motion to tax, most likely. Why didn’t they teach me this in law school?!
Anyway, it takes a few years of wading through it all until you start seeing the bigger picture. You write a document here and a letter there, but never really see how it all fits together until later.
Are you in litigation?
The learning curve is steep in the first 5 years. That’s why the guy who is 1 year ahead of you seems to know a lot more. He was probably in your shoes in his first year. Ask him.
I have the same problem where I work. No one does anything because they are half retarded. There is a strong culture of “I won’t do anything until your manager speaks to my manager and both get director approval.” I haven’t seen my boss in like a week. I have no idea what she does or where she goes.
So basically I just hang out doing nothing. I’m in the process of getting some certifications so once I have that, I’ll see about using those credentials to find a new job.
Quite frankly my biggest concern is that without any real way to evaluate what I do, my boss can just come and give me a shitty review because she doesn’t like the way my pants woosh when I walk.
