Attorney Professional Development Goals by Generation

The legal profession is constantly evolving, and lawyers must adapt to new challenges and opportunities throughout their careers. Professional development (PD) is essential for lawyers to maintain their skills, stay informed about changes in the law, and advance their careers. The goals and strategies for PD can vary significantly depending on the generation of the lawyer.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The irony is that many of the most important elements of PD are flipped around based on the generation of the attorney. For example, elements of law practice that might be second nature for a first-year associate — perhaps social media, artificial intelligence (AI), or diversity initiatives, to name a few — can be daunting to a much more experienced lawyer, thus requiring an investment in PD to comply with American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rule 1.1 (Competence): “A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.” Taking AI as an example, Model Rule 1.1 is often interpreted by many as requiring an attorney to know how modern-day tools and technology work for proper representation of a client.

The generation, from baby boomers to Generation X to millennials to Generation Z, may very well dictate the PD goal.

Baby Boomers

For baby boomers (born 1946-1964), the typical PD focus is on leadership. At this stage, I would hope that your positions within firms or organizations center around “leading” a committee as opposed to sitting on one.

A baby boomer PD should also center around mentoring the younger generations around you. This often means using your connections to develop speaking gigs or committee appointments that earlier in your career would’ve been for you. Now, it is about passing the baton. Hopefully, your ability to generate business is on autopilot.

The core PD focus for a baby boomer is going to center around continued education and staying on top of changes in the practice. So many practice areas are changing rapidly (or, in the case of some, like cannabis law or cryptocurrency, new lucrative specialties). On the business development (BD) side of the equation, competition has forced senior lawyers who once had cornered the market in certain niche practices to realize that what once worked — speaking or writing for a particular organization or simply “word of mouth” referrals — no longer does. Aggressive, entrepreneurial attorneys can develop a “presence” (be it real or not) with aggressive, online reputation building. In some cases, practices that were once clearly “boutique” are now built into large, general practice firms.

Generation X

I guess you can say Generation X (born 1965-1980) coined the concept of “work-life balance.” Now, the PD emphasis shifts to work-life balance and skill diversification.

Selecting organizational involvement should center around what fits into your personal and professional lives. As an ABA active member in leadership for the last 25 years or so, I would guess that I’ve taken an average of six trips per year to fulfill various ABA duties. If your personal situation does not really allow for that type of travel commitment, you may choose a variety of other paths to be active in the profession. You may choose bar involvement at the local level to avoid the burdens of travel. Or you may simply choose to engage in PD activities that can be done in the comfort of your office, or home office.

This is also the career stage where you start to expand your skill sets. In most cases, it is a natural expansion of a traditional practice area you may have found yourself placed in as a first-year associate. For others, it may involve delving into the business side of the law practice, as a partner taking on managerial or administrative functions as opposed to straight-out client billing. Many lawyers finally hit the partnership track, only to realize that the endgame wasn’t as rosy as they had thought. Your PD efforts may shift toward the possibility of moving in-house, teaching law, or a variety of alternative legal career options.

Millennials

Millennials (born 1981-1996) are the first generation wholly driven by technology. From legal research tools to advances in e-discovery, staying on top of the latest and greatest in tech is a huge component of millennial PD. You most likely will find many of these individuals using their PD budget to attend ABA TECHSHOW.

There is also a higher expectation of collaboration in the workplace and networking in general. Regardless of the generation, I believe building and maintaining relationships with peers, mentors, and industry leaders should always be a priority.

Maybe I’m old school, but nothing beats in-person, face-to-face networking opportunities. While you may grow your network through other means, such as social media and virtual events, it is the person you’ve shared a beer or cup of coffee with who is going to potentially generate business. At the same time, I offer a “buyer beware” for many networking groups that are little more than pyramid schemes or an opportunity for an opportunist to line their pockets with your cash by promising access to an array of business leaders — often in areas such as accounting or real estate. Don’t pay for a network — build one.

As you might guess, the millennial PD plan also incorporates initiatives tied to social change. This might mean more pro bono, social justice initiatives, and advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the profession. It will be interesting to see where DEI goes in the next few years, as an uphill battle just became a lot steeper.

Generation Z

As someone who sits down and lays out PD plans for every generation, I’m not going to pretend that Generation Z (born 1997-2012) does not pose a challenge for me. As someone who is borderline baby boomer/Gen X, the challenge is to put myself in someone else’s shoes. When your kid says “OK, boomer” to you — perhaps the ultimate insult — it is a reminder that you might be slightly out of touch.

You simply can’t expect a Gen Z attorney to treat organizational involvement the same as a senior attorney. How and where they get involved outside of the workplace is simply different. In a world dominated by LinkedIn, where you take a “work from home” day even though you live one block from the office, and the need for “mental health days” and a better culture permeates a work plan, you need to adjust your game plan accordingly.

A Gen Z PD plan prioritizes learning that incorporates the changing legal landscape — including the way a law firm is built, emerging areas of law, and chosen career paths. Whereas earlier generations often had one eye on the prize — making partner — when joining a law firm as a summer or first-year associate, that is often the furthest thing from the truth for Gen Z.

This poses a conundrum for many law firm PD professionals, when you know that your firm resources and spending are not really investing in the future of the firm, but more so for the next stop of the attorney — which won’t likely be “here.” This has become an increasing challenge for law firms over the last decade or two. Who are we really investing in, and why? For this reason, I selfishly — when looking out for the firm, as opposed to the individuals — consider whether PD efforts have any short-term benefit to the firm itself or if I am just better positioning someone to hit the exit doors.

Make no mistake: A Gen Z lawyer wants professional growth, which might include a mix of in-person learning, online courses, and conference attendance. Those efforts may also be tied to promoting sustainability, public interest law, and “access to justice” for the disenfranchised. It is simply a different mindset.

Different Generations, Different Objectives

As you can see, there is an overlap in goals and objectives for each generation’s PD planning. But as noted earlier, “one size does not fit all,” and making the necessary adjustments to coordinate what is best for the individual attorney, what is best for the law firm itself, and where the nuances lie in the attitudes and unique approaches of each generation is paramount to successful PD. The better tailored those programs are, the greater the chance for success in the legal profession for all involved.