Useful Advice From PDLG To Summer Associates Everywhere

Every spring, the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group (PDLG) hosts a daylong "pre-work" seminar for its Summer 1L Program participants—law students who will spend their 1L summers working with a PDLG member law firm or legal department. The seminar features a variety of panels and presentations designed to prepare the participants for the often-rigorous and potentially overwhelming summer-associate experiences awaiting them.

Kimberly Lippman, an associate at Duane Morris and co-author of this article, co-presented with partner Alan Klein, a longtime supporter of PDLG, at last year's pre-work seminar. Lippman was so impressed by all of the 1L Program participants who she met that she jumped at the opportunity to present at this year's seminar.

Eager to live up to PDLG's invitation, Lippman devoted some time to contemplating what professional insight she would offer the students. After a too-long day at work, she sat down and began outlining all of the advice she wished to impart. Somehow her outline slowly morphed into a poem.

This poem, presented below in bold type, was short, but seemed to capture the most common gaffes made by most attorneys at some point in their lives, even those who now call themselves partners. PDLG thought the advice would be useful to summer associates (and attorneys) everywhere.

Go to lunch with partners. If a partner or associate or company representative asks you to lunch, do not decline. This is your opportunity to learn more about each other and find some common ground. Relax. In most cases, the attorney or business person wants to talk about some topic of mutual interest, not whether you can recite the elements of a securities fraud claim. You may want to avoid any discussion about politics, though. Be kind to your assistant. Be kind and respectful to everyone. All of your colleagues and staff deserve your patience and respect, no matter their rank or file. You are part of a team. Never leave important things for the last minute. Make sure that you plan ahead. Do not wait until the last minute to finish an assignment. Legal analysis takes time. A memo with typos or grammatical errors will make a bad first impression, which can be hard to overcome. Don't gossip about colleagues. The legal community is small and built on trust. This is no time for you to develop a reputation as a gossip. Can a law firm trust you with a client's confidential information, if you can't keep mum about your colleague's personal life? Or...