Fresh out of law school, great grades, full of knowledge but little practical experience? Even with the greatest academic mind, the ease with which new attorneys learn the ropes of their law firm comes down to training.
Former lawyer Christie Feyen turned her baptism of fire as a ‘newbie’ into a career in HR to help other lawyers meet their potential through access to the developmental tools she never had. Associate Attorney, Elecia Byrd, on the other side of the coin, has been subject to the Zinda Law Group onboarding culture with such triumph that she now sits on the Training and Development Committee.
Together with their vastly different experiences, they share tips and advice on how law firms can implement training programs and the importance of continued learning, even for those who are already on top of their game.
Does training matter?
“If you just throw a lawyer into the fire without any sort of training, you're setting them up for failure in a lot of ways”, explains Christie.
While law school teaches students how to ‘think critically and write persuasively’, not all teach the day to day practical skills of being a trial attorney. On the job training provides new attorneys with the opportunity to learn how to do things the correct way from an experienced attorney, and also allows organic mentee/mentor relationships to develop.
Not only does training aid in the development of practical litigation skills, it also serves as way for an attorney to acclimate to their firm by learning the firm’s expectations for their role.
What is a training program?
Director of HR, Christie, explains the ‘robust onboarding checklist’ used by Zinda Law Group to prepare for a new attorneys arrival, including the training and development portion.
A vital piece of training and development is the Acclimation Guide. “It contains all of the training modules that the attorney is going to be completing…from the admin topics of how to use your computer here at the firm, all the way to how to write a demand, how to prepare discovery, or how to take a deposition”, Christie explains.
Associate Attorney, Elecia, trumpets how the training helped her with basic things like putting faces to names, understanding where things were around the office, as well as more advanced learning objectives like the office culture.
How to create a training guide?
The team advises to start with the basics. Try and live in the shoes of your trainees, and make a list of all the things they will be doing and everyone they will be interacting with. The message is clear, investing in your new, and experienced, attorneys means clients won’t hesitate to invest in you.
On today’s podcast:
- Introducing Director of HR, Christie Feyen and Associate Attorney, Elecia Byrd at Zinda Law Group
- Why does training matter? Why should firms focus on that?
- What does a training program contain?
- How to create an acclimation guide?
- Training for the new vs the experienced
- How to create a training program and instill culture
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