Advice for Mid-levels—Taking that Next Step in Your Career

By: Rasha Suleiman

While I was preparing for On-Campus Interviewing (OCI) and applying for summer associate positions, I scoured the internet for information about different law firms. I learned about their practice areas, pro bono opportunities, cultures, and geographical reaches. The resources I found, like Vault and Chambers Associate, offered detailed profiles on top firms and helped me choose a firm that was the best fit for me. However, I realized that most of the career-oriented information available to law students and lawyers online is most helpful to people like myself—law students or young attorneys looking to apply for junior associate positions. Reading through all these resources, I realized that they did not offer advice for mid-level associates and attorneys several years out of law school looking to take the next step in their careers. To help fill this informational gap, I interviewed five attorneys who were generous enough to share their wisdom and time with me.

Ola Adekunle - Senior Patent Counsel at Google
Brooks Beard - Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at VMware
Iris Chen - Deputy General Counsel at Airbnb
Tracy Richelle High - Litigation Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Lisa Nguyen - Litigation Partner at Latham & Watkins LLP

The following is a synthesis of my discussions that I hope will demystify mid-level career progression.

What skills are most important to junior and mid-level associates?

Many of the attorneys I spoke with stressed that the most important skill that a junior attorney can develop is the ability to write and communicate clearly and concisely. As juniors without years of experience and insight, it is more challenging for us to create a strategy for a case or a deal, but we do have the ability to become very familiar with the facts of the matter and effectively communicate our findings and research. This advice highlighted an important theme that ran throughout my interviews: it is vital to develop basic, foundational skills in a thoughtful way.

Learn the Context of a Case

While juniors should focus on the details of a case, Lisa Nguyen explained that mid-levels should start to practice putting those details into context. At this stage, an attorney should be able to move beyond discrete tasks and make connections between the different facets of the matter and the overall case strategy. This understanding will allow a mid-level to act as a bridge between more senior lawyers (partners and senior associates) and junior associates by managing the communication amongst team members.

Push Beyond Your Comfort Level & Find Sponsors

Brooks Beard recommended that associates should seek out opportunities outside of their comfort zone, such as participating in and taking depositions or becoming a member of a trial team. Pushing yourself to take on these types of opportunities early in your career will help open doors down the line as you rise up the ranks. Brooks also spoke about the importance of developing mentorship and sponsorship relationships with senior attorneys and partners. These people will be the ones who advocate for you as you look toward an internal promotion at a firm or a transition to an in-house role.

Learn Your Craft & Manage Your Matters

Tracy Richelle High emphasized the importance of learning the craft of lawyering. For litigators, this includes learning the arc of a case from the filing of a complaint through settlement or trial. She also recommended that associates focus on learning the culture of their firm in their early years. Tracy also suggested that mid-level associates practice their managerial skills. At this stage in an attorney’s career, he or she should learn how to manage others on the case team, which includes how to effectively engage with senior attorneys. It is important to guide and mentor those who are junior to you but also manage the expectations of the senior associates and partners to whom you report.

Master Communication

As a mid-level, attorneys should develop their oratory communication and presentation skills. Ola Adekunle explained that at this stage, it becomes your job to communicate ideas to both external clients and internal stakeholders. It is at this point that you have enough experience and expertise with matters to contribute to strategy development.

Iris Chen had a similar experience while working with clients. She also believes that client communication skills are highly important to a mid-level associate’s career. Working directly with clients at her former firm was a major factor that allowed her to transition practice areas when she moved to her first in-house position.

For associates who want to pivot in-house, how should they prepare for that transition?

Iris and Brooks explained that in-house roles differ across companies and industries. To start your search, Iris recommended focusing your practice at a firm on those areas that are going to be the most relevant to the companies or industries that interest you. This way, associates will be able to find in-house positions where they can effectively lend their experience.

Additionally, Brooks suggested researching each role thoroughly before applying to positions. An associate can do this by speaking to former firm colleagues who have since made the transition to a client company, or by participating in a secondment with a client through their firm. A secondment is an opportunity to work at a company for a limited period of time before returning to your firm.

Another important skill for a transition to an in-house role is the ability to explain complicated legal concepts in layman’s terms. Iris recommended that associates practice this skill with their firm clients (i.e., partners and senior associates) because it will be valuable for internal communications in-house.

Are there specific practice areas you recommend for a transition in-house?

Large companies require various roles and thus obtain attorneys from various practice areas. Ola shared that Google’s legal team comprises about 1500 people and covers virtually every major area of practice. A few practice areas he cited include employment, patents, intellectual property, antitrust, and even business immigration. He also noted that for tech companies, it is useful to understand the most pressing issues related to the industry, including intellectual property, antitrust, and data protection and privacy.

Brooks explained that there is no one path to success in-house and that desirable practice areas change from one company to another. He noted that a corporate background is more typical for positions at start-ups and emerging companies because those companies seek lawyers to help guide them through IPO, acquisition and M&A processes. On the other hand, many large companies are more focused on compliance, regulation, and dispute resolution, which are roles that are ripe for those with a litigation-oriented background.

For associates who want to make partner, how can they put themselves in the best position possible?

Tracy’s main piece of advice is to focus on mastering the necessary skills at each associate level before moving on to the next one. She explained that it is important not to rush through this development, and instead work hard to burnish your skillset. When you reach the stage of being a senior associate, the most important skills to develop and demonstrate are sound judgment and strategic thinking.

Lisa also emphasized the importance of good judgment at this stage. As a senior associate, a lawyer has multiple years of experience that they can lend to a new case. She explained that associates should leverage their experiences to spot issues and raise potential strategies and approaches. Every attorney has unique experiences, and it’s important to demonstrate that you have the judgment to translate and communicate that experience to the matter at hand in a valuable way.

For associates who want to stay at a firm, but not necessarily as a partner—can you describe other potential paths?

Not everyone wants to become a partner at a law firm. Lisa shared different possibilities for long-term progression at her firm. She noted that associates should educate themselves regarding the opportunities at their respective firms. For example, her firm’s IP litigation group has a “patent attorney” role filled by uniquely skilled lawyers who bring specialized technical abilities to patent trial teams. Another role Lisa spoke to me about is that of Counsel, which is a position that most firms have and is often occupied by attorneys with outstanding substantive skills and a strong commitment to client service, but a different set of management and practice obligations than partners. An overarching piece of advice Lisa gave was that attorneys should have these conversations with their mentors and others at the firm so that they can learn about their options and craft the path that best fits their strengths and interests.

By speaking with these five esteemed attorneys, I learned some of the many tips that mid-level attorneys can benefit from as they develop as lawyers. Every person emphasized the importance of communication, whether it be with clients, during presentations, or simply with your team.

For attorneys seeking jobs in-house, it is important to learn how to communicate legal concepts to non-lawyers. While litigation experience gives attorneys the communication and issue-spotting skills necessary for in-house roles, there are other ways to attain in-house positions. Corporate attorneys offer valuable experience working with license agreements and securities regulations. Ultimately, attorneys can have varying practice area backgrounds and still be useful as in-house counsel. The key is to research the position you want early on and develop experience in your industry of interest.

For attorneys striving to become partners at their firms, strategic thinking and good judgment are vital skills for success. For attorneys who want to stay at a firm but are not interested in partnership, there are other options for progression! Ultimately, the options are limitless for mid-level attorneys looking to advance their careers.

Special thanks to Ola Adekunle, Brooks Beard, Iris Chen, Tracy Richelle High, and Lisa Nguyen who generously shared their tips for success.