Lauren Nuffort and Paul Shapiro drafted an article for the Winter 2014 edition of Minnesota Defense, “Tips from the Trenches: How to Succeed as a Summer Associate and as a First-Year Associate.”

 

Article summary:
The Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association (MDLA) 2013-14 New Defense Lawyers Committee set out to uncover the top recommendations for how to find success and feel empowered as a summer associate and as a first-year associate.  We hope you can use these tips to guide you as you begin your practice.

  • What are my responsibilities as a law clerk or as a summer associate?
  • What’s “non-billable work” and how should I prioritize it?
  • How should I use my team members?
  • Apart from completing projects on time, how can I demonstrate value?
  • I haven’t really practiced my writing since that legal-writing course back in my 1L year.  How can I improve my writing?
  • How do I go about drafting a pleading for the first time?  I’ve never even heard of this type of pleading!
  • How about some practical “nuts and bolts” advice for improving my writing?