Virtual articling - how do you feel?

[cherrytree]

I wanted to start a new thread for articling students who are in the position of completing their work during articles remotely. From the COVID risk aspect it's a great privilege to be able to work from home as a student, a treatment that certainly isn't afforded to everyone (particularly those who work outside Big Law). But working from home as a novice brings with it a variety of challenges in terms of managing your time, seeking out work assignments, getting timely guidance/feedback, maintaining boundaries between work time and time off, developing professional relationships with the people you work with, etc.

I remember on the old forum there were posts that discussed these challenges and frustrations candidly, so I thought I should make a new thread here for the 2021-22 articling term. Hopefully this is a place to commiserate that can help people not feel as alone. For lawyers who have been working remotely for longer, any tips or advice would be super appreciated!

For me, so far the biggest challenge of articling from home is that I have no clue if I'm working/billing a decent amount of time or if I should be taking on more/less work items. There are times when a lot of deadlines are at risk of clashing together and times when I'm waiting for X to be OK'd so I can move on to Y, but X is giving me radio silence. It's hard to schedule times to chat with lawyers who want to discuss the details of the work assignment over the phone, when the scheduled time keeps getting pushed back and, a few unanswered emails later, there is nothing scheduled at all. I can't just drop into someone's office for a chat on what they plan to have me do if I happen to catch them at a time they aren't busy when I look through their door and I'm afraid sending too many emails would just create a hassle. I also feel insecure at times when fellow students report being crazy busy with lawyers going directly to them for assignments and it's not the case for me. I tell myself it's not always rational to think that way and to avoid catastrophizing, but it's harder to talk myself out of it or distract myself when I'm by myself in my room all day.

[TobyFlenderson]

2 hours ago, cherrytree said:

I wanted to start a new thread for articling students who are in the position of completing their work during articles remotely. From the COVID risk aspect it's a great privilege to be able to work from home as a student, a treatment that certainly isn't afforded to everyone (particularly those who work outside Big Law). But working from home as a novice brings with it a variety of challenges in terms of managing your time, seeking out work assignments, getting timely guidance/feedback, maintaining boundaries between work time and time off, developing professional relationships with the people you work with, etc.

I remember on the old forum there were posts that discussed these challenges and frustrations candidly, so I thought I should make a new thread here for the 2021-22 articling term. Hopefully this is a place to commiserate that can help people not feel as alone. For lawyers who have been working remotely for longer, any tips or advice would be super appreciated!

For me, so far the biggest challenge of articling from home is that I have no clue if I'm working/billing a decent amount of time or if I should be taking on more/less work items. There are times when a lot of deadlines are at risk of clashing together and times when I'm waiting for X to be OK'd so I can move on to Y, but X is giving me radio silence. It's hard to schedule times to chat with lawyers who want to discuss the details of the work assignment over the phone, when the scheduled time keeps getting pushed back and, a few unanswered emails later, there is nothing scheduled at all. I can't just drop into someone's office for a chat on what they plan to have me do if I happen to catch them at a time they aren't busy when I look through their door and I'm afraid sending too many emails would just create a hassle. I also feel insecure at times when fellow students report being crazy busy with lawyers going directly to them for assignments and it's not the case for me. I tell myself it's not always rational to think that way and to avoid catastrophizing, but it's harder to talk myself out of it or distract myself when I'm by myself in my room all day.

I'm only a 2L summer student so there are certainly distinctions to be drawn, but for what it's worth, I'm having a very similar experience. I'm in the office, but a lot of lawyers are not. I recently had a performance review as the summer wraps up, and I was told that despite my concerns that I was doing not enough/taking too long, that I was on pace. I also found myself "chasing" work, which made me worry that maybe my work product wasn't good enough so lawyers didn't want to send me work that they'd just have to redo. This wasn't the case either, and when I asked directly about the quality of my work, they said my analysis was strong and that my work was helpful with only rare adjustments.

I recognize we're in different positions, in different environments, but I wanted to jump in and share that I know the feeling and it was recently made clear to me that my concerns were unfounded. If you have a lawyer that you've done a fair chunk of work for, or one that you feel particularly close to, I'd encourage you to schedule a time for an honest discussion and jsut ask "hey, x, y and z are concerns I have. Do you have any feedback on these points?". This may or may not be a feasible option for you, depending on whether or not you have lawyers you trust enough to have that conversation without somehow impacting your professional relationship, but it's worth considering. 

[cherrytree]

On 8/27/2021 at 10:11 PM, TobyFlenderson said:

I'm only a 2L summer student so there are certainly distinctions to be drawn, but for what it's worth, I'm having a very similar experience. I'm in the office, but a lot of lawyers are not. I recently had a performance review as the summer wraps up, and I was told that despite my concerns that I was doing not enough/taking too long, that I was on pace. I also found myself "chasing" work, which made me worry that maybe my work product wasn't good enough so lawyers didn't want to send me work that they'd just have to redo. This wasn't the case either, and when I asked directly about the quality of my work, they said my analysis was strong and that my work was helpful with only rare adjustments.

I recognize we're in different positions, in different environments, but I wanted to jump in and share that I know the feeling and it was recently made clear to me that my concerns were unfounded. If you have a lawyer that you've done a fair chunk of work for, or one that you feel particularly close to, I'd encourage you to schedule a time for an honest discussion and jsut ask "hey, x, y and z are concerns I have. Do you have any feedback on these points?". This may or may not be a feasible option for you, depending on whether or not you have lawyers you trust enough to have that conversation without somehow impacting your professional relationship, but it's worth considering. 

Thanks Toby for this kind reply, I've been feeling much better now. I think when I made this post a month ago I didn't realize how much I was missing the workplace interaction that came with articling pre-pandemic. Ever since I started going to work in the office part time, 1-2 days a week, the feeling of disconnect and isolation has become less of an issue. I still prefer to work from home on days when I have lots on the go just to save time, but going into the office to actually meet and talk to lawyers (whether I get work from them or not) has been a positive for my articling experience. I'm glad that with vaccine mandates and flexibility around work locations, the office can remain open safely and when I go work in the office there are actually partners and associates around.