Perfect Makes Practice?

 I wanted to revisit a comment that I posted on a really thoughtful post by Robin Effron about students' lack of professionalism and when the duty to seize a so-called teachable moment kicks in. I wrote that

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...[F]riends from law school, who unlike me, do not teach law students, but supervise junior attorneys in practice... have confirmed that to the extent that students are thoughtless in their approach and interactions with professors, they're not necessarily polishing up and putting in the effort to be more diligent, considerate, and prepared for their supervisors and clients. So, for example, a student who asks me questions about what the reading is for that day because he can't be bothered to consult the syllabus is likely to be the same student who wastes a partner's time by asking certain basic things about an assignment that are clearly knowable without resort to the partner. A student who expects me to keep track of, look up, and report to her about her absences likely is the same junior associate who, a few years later, is seen by the senior associates for whom she works as having unrealistic expectations that they will keep track of her work, deadlines, and responsibilities and that they exist to make her life easier instead of vice versa. A student who shows that he cannot be bothered to consolidate questions or proofread assignments or correspondence is likely the same associate who yanks things out of the printer and drops them on a senior associate’s desk as he strolls out of the office, or shoots careless correspondence off to a client or judge without regard for who is going to catch his careless mistakes. These associates quickly tarnish their reputations internally, externally, and permanently. They don't last in jobs, and they don't last in practice.

Today's cost-conscious client does not want to pay 3/4 of a senior person's hourly rate to employ a junior person and have shoddy work, wasted hours, and an unreliable person who cannot be bothered to exhibit professionalism as counsel. They'd rather pay full price for the real thing, because it's cheaper and better for their case and for their overall representation. I have long thought that we as law professors owe our students more in terms of their complete professional training, but I, too, have struggled with how to address certain of these issues without alienating students or seeming less approachable; I pride myself on being very accessible to students. I won't even get into scenarios where a student is disrespectful, but clearly doesn't realize that she is being rude at all. I fear we may do our students the greatest disservice when we remain silent as we strive to build their confidence and facilitate their ability to speak freely to us. We graduate them, but then the real world must (and invariably does) correct what we have not deemed to be our place to address. It's a topic worthy of further discussion, and I am glad that you brought it up.  who employ and supervise junior attorneys.

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Fast forward to this year, and I have found myself chairing our school's Faculty Placement Committee.

This committee works alongside the Career Development Office to plan and staff programming geared toward helping students find and land jobs in this competitive market. I also find myself  surrounded by friends in several major cities including Miami, New York, and Washington DC who employ and supervise junior attorneys. I have geared much of the advice that I dispense at panels called things like "How to Find and Keep a Job" or "How to be a Good Summer Associate" toward addressing the pet peeves and sought-after traits that I hear about.

 

This year, as well, I joined several junior faculty members in creating what we are calling a "working group" on classroom culture. With the goal of identifying and heading off behavioral and other problems in the classroom that seem to be engendered by students' lack of accountability and/or professionalism, we started off the school year by addressing students at Orientation. Although most of our students do not exhibit a lack of professionalism in the classroom, our goal was to identify what we considered unprofessional behavior before anyone engaged in it so that the discussion could be thoughtful, rather than antagonistic or accusatory. We identified behavior that had the potential to harm others' experiences, like a student's not doing the reading and then coming to class with a series of questions designed to catch her up at the expense of her classmates' time (and patience).  Aiming to create a culture of professionalism and civility from the outset, we talked about the connection between the habits and mindsets that our students would form and those that they would engage in or subscribe to as working professionals. We talked about the state of the profession and about how many leaders of the bench and bar bemoan what they term a loss of civility and professionalism in the practice of law.

 

I wanted to see if any of you or your schools had attempted anything similar and what the results had been. We were very careful to make clear that students could act and approach their studies as they wished, but the impressions that they made on their professors and one another could have long-lasting and far-reaching ramifications. I would like to think that we aided some students who hadn't given much thought to these issues with self-awareness, law school protocol, and accountability that will give them a competitive edge in the profession.