LagLiv showed some impressive, and effective, assertiveness recently by re-assigning some work so she'd have time for other things, like Thanksgiving cooking and in-laws, etc. First she re-assigned, then she cleared it with the higher-up. Very impressive example of how to establish a balanced workload. I'm intrigued that there actually exists another first year associate "who had nothing on her desk." But that's another discussion for another day.
Today's discussion is about assertiveness. Basically, is it required of law-types to take initiative? What if you like to keep all options open? What if you just don't have an opinion? That would make for an ineffective lawyer, wouldn't it?
Can law school teach you to be more assertive? Is it something that happens by default as you traverse the stressful, competitive waters of a legal education?
I mean, look at Proto Attorney. She is being heroically assertive. But did law school drive her to such bravery, or was she always like that?
What happens to those who didn't start out like that? Are those the ones who drop out?
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RE: comments at my blog.
I like the blue blog. Did you check out http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/?
Yeah, I usually take off a day or two over thanksgivng because I have a family, but study the other days. We get a 'reading week' which is like three days after TG break before the first exam gets scheduled. My first exam is 12/9, my last is 12/17. So there is usually a day in between. They definitely try to spread it out for 1Ls.
Well, to be clear, I didn't re-assign my work for Thanksgiving or my in-laws, I reassigned it because the initial documents on the new deal needed to be read by Tuesday and the deal I was already one was closing Wednesday and I knew it wasn't physically possible for me to do both, especially given that I was at work until nearly midnight just working on the one. I'm all about boundaries, but I wouldn't take that kind of an affirmative step in situations outside of this one, where two deals pop up with the exact same time line and it's impossible to do both.
Law school has definitely made me more assertive. Mainly because I've done a lot of negotiation stuff, and learned that being indirect and accommodating is not an effective way to get what I want.
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