Climbing the Ladder: Tips from the bottom rung

By Seth E. Darmstadter
Meckler Bulger & Tilson

I do not profess to be a legal expert, nor do I hold a magic formula for making partner at a law firm. I am simply a young attorney, working like you in a competitive legal marketplace, struggling day-to-day to learn our craft in order to gain an edge for my (really, my employer’s) clients.

This series will contain a combination of my own experiences and relevant tips and anecdotes picked up from friends and colleagues. With any luck, hearing about my successes and slip-ups will help others who, like me, endeavor to climb the ladder.

Tip # 1 Don’t cut your own time

I remember the first time a partner gave me a research question that I (unknowingly) completely misunderstood. It was just before 9 a.m. and I dove head-first into the billing black hole that is Westlaw, spending hours searching for the perfect response to the question posed to me.

This time, I wanted to be the hated gunner with all the answers.

I found myself trying desperately, yet unsuccessfully, to satisfy my insatiable appetite for the correct answer. Only after half my day was wasted did I realize that I had gone 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

Properly refocused, I started over, ultimately completing my research memorandum around 2 a.m. I still recall the elation as I typed those final words, filled with the confident fervor of a man with a spot-on answer to the partner’s inquiry. I attached that memo to an e-mail, clicked ‘’send,” and then prepared to head home for a few hours of much-needed sleep.

Thankful that I was earning enough money to afford TiVo (I probably had missed ”American Idol,” or something equally stimulating), I pulled out my billing notebook to record the day’s activities. That’s when I began to deflate.

If I billed the entire 16 hours, then, of course, the partner would question why it took so long to write the memo. He certainly would cut my time and, worse yet, he would know that I was not the associate with all the answers, but instead someone who took 16 hours to complete a 10-hour project. Swallowing hard, I wrote 9.5 hours on my time sheet (I know, show-off) and finally went home.

For me, it became an almost habitual practice. Not misunderstanding my assignments, but cutting hours in order to appear more efficient than was true. Then, one day, a partner who was reviewing my billing called me into his office and asked if I had been cutting my hours. I answered truthfully and explained my rationale.

He quickly instructed me to stop, explaining that I was doing a disservice both to myself and to the firm.

He informed me that partners need to know the actual amount of time that associates spend on assignments, both for the partner’s own growth as a manager, and for the associate’s ongoing training. He also explained the economics of billing and assured me that, at my level, I would not be penalized for having my time cut, because the firm considered this a cost of doing business they could write-off my time, whereas I simply ate it. Following that partner’s advice has served me well.

Therefore, if you find yourself confronted with this issue, I urge you to engage in a similar dialogue I expect that you too will be well-served by the results.

Tip # 2 Always read the local rules

The initial task for my first appellate brief was to file a motion for an extension of time. I flipped through the relevant provisions of the Illinois Appellate Rules, drafted a ‘’standard” two-pager and filed my Motion for 21-Day Extension of Time to File Appellant’s Opening Brief.

My neurosis in full effect, I called the court every day (sometimes twice) to check on the status of my first appellate motion. Finally, the phone-stalking paid off and I learned that the motion had been granted and that the order was forthcoming. Feeling overjoyed (and relieved), I calculated 21 days from the original due date and then e-mailed the partner with both the good news and the new due date.

When the order arrived by mail, my joy was replaced by an intense panic. Somehow, the brief was due in just five days. I barely had completed an outline.

I frantically called the ruling justice’s clerk, who asked whether my motion had requested an extension for a particular number of days, or, alternatively, an extension to a date certain. I told him it was the former and he replied that there was no mistake; I should have read the local rules.

Local Rule 4(D) of the Illinois Court of Appeals for the First District requires that motions for extension of time ”ask for a specific due date … not a certain number of additional days.” The clerk explained that, as a consequence of not complying with that rule, I was stuck with the arbitrary due date selected by the ruling justice.

This lesson, which you just learned for free, cost me four consecutive late nights, one very unpleasant weekend in the office and another 1/16 inch of hairline recession.

Stay tuned, more tips will hit newsstands in August.