Description
How To Gain Respect By Setting Up Boundaries
[00:00:00] The firm is moving to variable hours track where associates are paid based on billable hours tracks. They are selling this is a flexible work approach where people can slow down if they want to still be on partnership track but we all know it's their way of saving money and paying less for slower practices. Partners aren't thrilled because they need people working more, not less.
I'm in a practice that is very busy and slightly specialized, but I want to opt into the lower track with a lower salary, similar to other firms. We are at capacity in my group so I know that cutting back on 350 hours is not going to go well.
I need advice on how to approach this situation, especially going into the very busy season of my practice.
Do I bluntly tell partners who are looking to staff me in a matter that I am on the lower hours track and on pace for my track and therefore don't want to be staffed on new matters or do I passive aggressively set boundaries and ambiguously suggest I don't have bandwidth?
Okay. Yeah, I don't want to get in trouble on this one, but I'm going to answer it. There's a couple points to this. If you do want to go in the lower track, you may have a little bit more [00:01:00] difficulty advancing and getting more work.
One of the problems is that there's, this kind of an old guard and the old guard believes things like, everybody should be working as hard as they can and so forth. So, I don't know what your firm's and how that would work and you have to be careful. Again, I know how law firms work. If you tell people you don't want to do the work, then they're going to be mad and that may hurt you.
Or if you tell people that you don't want to be staffed on new matters that may hurt you as well. So the point is, you're asking, how to set boundaries. And you're saying, I want to set boundaries. I think you're your only choice really is to disappoint people and set boundaries.
I don't think you have any other choice in setting boundaries is a very difficult thing for a lot of people, myself included by the way, in a lot of different aspects of my career and personal life as well. So it's difficult to set boundaries and, but I think you need to. You can tell people what your boundaries are in the long run.
People will respect your boundaries. If you do a very good job with the time that you're working and so forth, it may not hurt you. And the society and everything is changing and [00:02:00] law firms are trying to hold on to people. I think that a lot of this may be happening because the law firm may be trying to save money and they may also be trying to hold onto associates.
I think you need to basically set boundaries and just say, this is the time I have and so forth. I don't want to and if someone was trying to staff you a new matter, just say, I only have this many hours per week. Is that okay? As long as you do what you say you're going to do and you follow through on your boundaries, I think you're going to be okay.
You need to set boundaries. In my experience, it's the people that don't set boundaries that get into trouble. I remember one attorney, I hate to say it, but he went crazy and he ended up actually murdering his wife and now he's in prison. He was accused of throwing her off a cruise ship or something. It's absolutely insane. I You can, I don't want to talk too much about it cause there's a fair and pleasant thing, but he was the guy that I remember never set boundaries.
People would give him work and he would keep doing it. He would be up for days and I would eventually drove them insane. So I think you have to learn how to set boundaries. I think setting boundaries is a really important thing inside of law firms. And I think that this is actually a very good trainer and if you're serious about it then just start setting boundaries and learn how to do it.
I don't like to work [00:03:00] passively aggressive. I just liked the idea that you're saying these are my boundaries and this is what I'm willing to do. And different people have boundaries. And you can get away with that. I heard about a partner once that refuse to work weekends, even if he had a trial on Monday. He was with a very good firm and he was just like, I don't do it.
I have employees, some of them that are like Orthodox Jews that once it's the Shabbat, they're gone. You can't contact them or anything. So people set boundaries, it's fine. You have to set boundaries. I think I would just be very blunt but don't look at it as a power thing.
I would look at it more as a way of what your limits are and what your boundaries are and I think it's good. I like the idea of what you're doing. I just I know how law firms work and I hope it doesn't backfire because it could backfire.
I'm just thinking of a couple of examples.
One of the people that I ended up working with a lot or contacted me before, are men that take. And this is, again, I'm not going to talk about the names of the firms, but they take these paternity leaves that are offered and then they come back and no one will give them work.
It's just stupid cause if they were taking a maternity leave, they come back. Everyone would give them marks. There's just different [00:04:00] expectations and different cultures at different firms. These are rules that I don't make. I'm just passing these things along. So you need to be careful, but if you feel like you can set boundaries and get away with it and continue to do very good work and take everything seriously. You do what you say you're going to do and you could have a very good job for a long time doing where you're at.
A lot of people leave the practice law and are very unhappy because they're not able to set boundaries so I think what you're doing is a very positive thing and I like it. I hope you are able to do it properly.
People that are unhappiest and have the most problems are the people that are the worst in setting boundaries. I'm thinking about people that I know that became partners in large law firms that I know personally, who I worked with when I was practicing.
And they all were very good at setting boundaries. They set boundaries, they kept themselves sane. People respected their boundaries and it worked out.
