Your First BigLaw Assignment: What to Expect

You survived orientation. You have a laptop, a badge, and an office (or a desk). Now someone sends you an email with a project. Your first real BigLaw assignment.

Here is what to expect and how to handle it.

What the assignment will probably be

For most first-year associates, the first assignment falls into one of these categories:

• Research memo. A partner or senior associate asks you to research a legal question and write up your findings. This could be narrow ("Is this clause enforceable under Delaware law?") or broad ("Survey the key regulatory issues for this type of transaction").
• Document review. You are given access to a data room and asked to review contracts or documents for specific issues, risks, or provisions.
• Due diligence. You are assigned a section of a due diligence checklist for an M&A deal and need to review the target company's documents and flag issues.
• Drafting. You are asked to prepare a first draft of a contract section, board resolution, or disclosure schedule.

How to handle it

Clarify the scope. Before you start, make sure you understand what is being asked. Ask about the deadline, format, level of detail expected, and who to go to with questions. It is far better to ask clarifying questions upfront than to deliver the wrong thing.

Do not disappear for three days. If the deadline is Friday, do not show up Friday with your first draft. Check in by mid-week with a status update or a preliminary question. This shows the assigning attorney that you are on track.

Use the firm's resources. Every BigLaw firm has research databases, precedent libraries, and knowledge management systems. Use them. Also, ask other junior associates if there is existing work product on similar topics. You do not need to reinvent the wheel.

Ask for feedback. When you turn in the assignment, ask the assigning attorney if they can give you feedback on the finished product. Not everyone will, but those who do will help you improve faster than anything else.

What not to worry about

Nobody expects your first assignment to be perfect. The attorneys who give you work remember being new. What they care about is:

• Did you meet the deadline?
• Did you flag issues you were unsure about instead of guessing?
• Is the work product organized and clearly written?
• Did you communicate proactively?

Get those things right and you are ahead of most first-years.

For more on navigating the early months, read our guide on how not to get no-offered. And browse the firm directory to see which firms are known for strong associate training.