MILLENNIAL LAWYERS
As millennial lawyers start to fill the law firm
ranks, it can be a bonding activity for more
experienced lawyers to reminisce about the
golden-age of the practice when lawyers
worked hard and didn’t whine about not
having bouncy-ball chairs or a pingpong
table in the law library.
Although there are kernels of truth in
some millennial stereotypes, most are flat
wrong. And the myths perpetuated in the
legal world are limiting—not only to millennial attorneys, but also to your law firm
or practice.
I recently had the opportunity to team
up with best-selling author and millennial
keynote speaker Ryan Avery to write
Motivating Millennials, a book aimed at busting
many of the pervasive myths about millennial workers. (Yes, millennials write books.)
Portions of the book—modified slightly for
a legal audience—are below.
NOT ALL MILLENNIALS
WANT TO MAKE PARTNER
This may come as a shock to you, big-firm
boomers. But it’s true. The cov-
eted brass ring of partnership may
be less valuable to some millenni-
als than the participation trophies
you gave us when we were kids.
Between the boomer heyday
and today, the ties that bind em-
ployer and employee have grad-
ually loosened and come apart.
Today, lawyers don’t hesitate to
change jobs or move to anoth-
er city for a better opportunity.
In some law firms, this tendency
may label such lawyers as ones
who are not serious about their
careers, thereby making them
expendable. But consider this: Millennials
grew up seeing our parents, relatives and
family friends get laid off across every sector
of the economy despite years of dedicated
service. We heard them lament the loss of
pensions and health insurance. The message
that came across to us was loud and clear:
Nothing is guaranteed.
We also experienced it firsthand as we
launched our own careers during the Great
Recession’s massive layoffs. Many millenni-
al lawyers have stories of interviewing with
powerhouse law firms like Heller Ehrman
and Dewey & LeBoeuf that imploded with-
in weeks of interviews or offers. We earned
law school diplomas in what we thought was
a hot industry. But in reality, demand for le-
gal services has stagnated across the country.
Because many millennials coming out of
law school don’t consider the legal pyramid
THE COVETED
BRASS RING OF
PARTNERSHIP
MAY BE LESS
VALUABLE TO SOME
MILLENNIALS
THAN THE
PARTICIPATION
TROPHIES YOU
GAVE US WHEN WE
WERE KIDS.
