law.com - Law Firms Mull the 'Gen Y' Equation
Another managing partner at a national firm said that many new associates, unlike associates before them, no longer "feel lucky" to have their jobs. The attorney also said that associates now operate under a pack mentality.
"[Newer associates] have a very strong connection with each other as opposed to the institution. If someone is treated badly, they all react to it," the attorney said.
My wife perceptively observed that this anonymous managing partner has a huge blind spot: he fails to recognize that the associates feel no loyalty to the firm because the firm shows no loyalty to them. Clearly, as far as he is concerned, they are simply so many expendable units of billable hours. Small wonder that they are not willing to sell themselves body and soul into indentured servitude. What is most galling is that this gutless bully of a "managing partner" insists on hiding behind anonymity in print. If this is really his national firm's policy, he should have the cojones to stand behind it.