Attorney Development

As you move through your career, you will participate in a variety of programs that will equip you for the new challenges that you will be facing as your practice develops. At regular intervals, you will come together with class level cohorts to ensure just-in-time training is provided on such topics as inclusive leadership, managing and motivating teams, client relations and opportunities for cross-office networking. Our counsel and partnership readiness programs are focused on practice building and business development with the guidance of departmental leadership, so that when you are invited to our New Partner Toolkit, you will be set up for success as an entry-level partner.

We recognize the need for an increased focus on lawyer development for our lateral lawyers, regardless of what level of seniority you may have attained when you join the firm. As one who has already some degree of legal experience, you appropriately have high expectations of the new firm that you are joining, and the firm similarly has high expectations of you. We know that you will already have developed a practice area and, just like we do for entry-level lawyers, our goal is to assist you to integrate as quickly as possible into your practice area and the firm in general. Recognizing that each lateral lawyer brings unique experiences and interests, we endeavor to help you reap the benefits of your experiences and your existing client and other relationships as fully as possible at Haynes and Boone. Partnering with the Manager of Attorney Integration, we meet with each new lateral lawyer at the beginning of your tenure with the firm to outline how we can be of assistance to you; we also follow up with lateral lawyers at periodic intervals after your arrival at the firm to ensure that your integration is going well.

In addition to the firm-wide milestone development programs and on-the job training through work assignments, a very important part of your development is the section and practice group training that relates to the substantive areas in which you are engaged. These programs include sessions that focus on skill development, e.g., an expert deposition workshop for litigation lawyers or a contract drafting session for transactional lawyers, or programs that discuss a current development related to your practice.

When you arrive at the firm, you will be assigned a partner in your practice group who will oversee your development as a lawyer at the firm. In addition to being involved with you in your work assignments, your partner supervisor will assist you in your integration into the firm as well as the broader legal community.

Your mentor has the primary focus of acclimating you to your practice and to the firm and of answering whatever questions you may have. Together, your partner supervisor and associate mentor form a key team upon which you will be able to depend for guidance and support.

Informal, ongoing feedback that you receive from the lawyers with whom you are working is critical to a lawyer's growth and development. Not only do we provide training for senior lawyers on how to give effective feedback, but we also provide training for our junior associates on how to seek out feedback and apply it to their practice.

In addition to the informal feedback that you receive on an ongoing basis, you will receive two reviews each year that are key guides to your development at the firm. The lawyers with whom you have worked will provide comments on the work that you have done, as well as suggest developmentally-appropriate goals. These comments are compiled and shared directly with you, at an in-person meeting that your supervising partner attends, along with an Attorney Development team member. These conversations focus on “going forward” guidance. In other words, what should be happening over the next six to 12 months to enable you to keep moving forward in your career? In furtherance of this goal, the review will focus on the nature of the work assignments that you may be getting going forward as well as other things that you can be doing to enhance your career such as speaking and writing opportunities.

The completion of your annual associate development plan provides you with an opportunity to identify substantive areas in which you would like to be involved, where you would like to strengthen your skillset, and other opportunities in which you would like to be engaged during the coming year. Working in conjunction with your partner supervisor and associate mentor, you can create an individual plan that provides a great road map for your career for the months and years ahead.