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Millennial Lawyers Work Smarter, Not Harder

Law
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Pink feather pens and heart-shaped notebooks in the court and board rooms? Maybe not, but the 2001 film Legally Blonde gave Baby Boomers and Generation X an exaggerated but closer depiction of the 21st century American barrister. 

For the present, the power at most law firms still safely resides with the 50- to 60-year-old experienced partners. Time is ticking. The old guard of attorneys, inspired into a legal career by Perry Mason and even John Grisham, however horrified, cannot deny that a new wave of esquires is filling state, federal and private law practices everywhere. And, if you can believe it, this new wave is modeled on Elle Woods.

What a conundrum for the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers made up of legions of workaholics who cut their teeth during the 1980s, 90s, and early 2000s — racing up corporate and professional ladders. They come in early, stay late, work after hours at home, and center their lives on the office. When viewed in this light, Millennial lawyers look lazy. Often, they aren’t motivated by money but instead by shorter working days or days off entirely.  How can these very different mindsets be expected to communicate effectively, let alone meld into the law partnerships of the future?

As a business owner employing several Millennial lawyers, I’ve learned through trial and error what is required is to pull back the cover. After looking deeper, the new generation’s value comes in focus. Millennials tend to work smarter than their parents and elder siblings, using technology to leverage opportunities. Take Woods as an example. She put a creative spin on the law school admissions process by filming a self-recorded video application while floating around the pool in a bikini. OK, that might be a little extreme … but because Millennials are engrossed in all things visual, they can use technology in ways other generations never imagined.

When I started my legal career almost two decades ago, I dictated my time each day, provided the mini-cassette tape (yes readers under 30, those did exist!) to a secretary to transcribe, reviewed the transcription, and then printed a copy for my boss to review and edit. Now as Founder and CEO of my own firm, RLG, we have user-friendly Google sheets instead of a three-person, four-step process for keeping track of client time. This gives our team real-time visibility into each attorney’s involvement on an account and enables us to track our efforts as we go. We can then send client updates in seconds, simply converting the Google sheet to a PDF document.

Millennials are also the most educated generation to date, with 61% of adult Millennials attending college as compared to 46% of Baby Boomers. That said, higher education isn’t the badge of accomplishment it used to be. Their elders are of the universal opinion that  Millennials are the laziest generation yet. Maybe they are, or maybe, in many circumstances, Millennials lack effective leadership. Again, underneath the cover, value is found. Millennials, like wide-eyed Elle Woods and her Chihuahua arriving at Harvard Law, are determined to make the world see they have depth and value. Just ask them and they will tell you. They resist the social-media obsessed label and are determined to succeed against the odds despite their reputation.

Millennials comprise nearly a quarter of practicing lawyers. They bring new enthusiasm to the workplace and a novel infusion of creativity. As a young attorney, if I wanted to engage in marketing efforts, I attended meet-and-greet functions for young lawyers at local restaurants and hotel conference rooms. This was not time-efficient or effective, especially within the 60- to 70-hour average workweek. Recently, our 24-year-old law clerk set up a firm Twitter account in minutes and said, “What, like it’s hard?” We now broadcast stories across our state, country, and even the world. We don’t wait to receive The Wall Street Journal on our driveway; we circulate articles over email on the weekends or in the evening. Our team engages virtually in thoughtful discussion on hot topics after hours and enjoys the collaboration.

Firms that are slow to understand Millennial lawyers will struggle to work with this growing group, and, ultimately, their clients will suffer. Learning from fictitious Elle Woods, surprising all with her admission to and success at Harvard, the generations of lawyers that still remember researching client issues in a library would be wise not to judge a Millennial book by its cover.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Kim

    May 29, 2016 at 7:19 am

    Excellent article. Being a boomer (older end of the range, although tough to admit), I grew up in the dawn of the internet and the downsizing of computers. I recall often thinking, “I thought technology was supposed to make our lives easier?” “Save us time? “Later, this gave way to, “Ok, I get it. “The internet is making us more productive…. now I’m on call 24/7…” (cell phones, laptops, e-mail, etc.). Well, that’s all true, but actually, I also have come to appreciate that I love technology more for the things it does allow me to do. Does tend to make me impatient at times. Love being able to get information (i.e. answers) on line instantly. I believe Millennials are just smarter than we are. Perhaps they are the generation that will finally truly assimilate work with life and use technology and forward thinking to do it.

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