How to get over the intimidating aspects of articling

[blonderachelzane]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently articling a mid-size firm and after about a month of articling, I noticed I get pretty bad existential dread when it comes to certain aspects of the job. I know that a certain amount of anxiety is normal, but I get extremely anxious handing in assignments or doing work for lawyers that are known to be more intimidating. Like the type of anxiety that keeps me up all night hype focused on things that happened during the day. I spend a lot of time revising assignments because of my nerves and it seems as though this is making me take a lot longer to do things in comparison to the other students at my firm.

I had this same issue when I summered last year but dealt with it because it was only four months. I think that these feelings are starting to impact my quality of life and articling experience so I want to find ways to manage this or at least get a little more confident in my abilities. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Apple]

Ask for feedback on your work. Getting this feedback can help you be informed about how your work is and then when you are facing anxiety you can use this feedback to stave off those concerns and reveal them to be unsubstantiated. 

I've found there is a balance to be had between time spent vs reward received. Obviously do your job well, but if your hyper focusing on an issue and it is wasting time and that energy could be invested elsewhere for greater returns I would say you need to stop that. Doing so will make you a better articling student. You need to identify when your in this battle with dread and anxiety and when it creeps up mentally put it aside by advising yourself that the battle is only going to yield diminishing returns - both in your work and personal life. 

[PalomaBlanca]

Although this will not help you right this second - it gets better. There will be times where you are forced to hand something in that you have not had the chance to mull over. It's scary, but chances are you did a great job. There will be many firsts to come that are similar to what you're experiencing right now: the first time you call a client, the first time you meet a client, the first time you deliver and file something on your own. It's scary everytime, but chances are you did a great job and it gets better. 

[abogada]

There is a difference between worry/nerves and anxiety. It is common to be nervous about performing at a new job or working with intimidating lawyers, but anxiety can manifest itself in a different way and take over your brain (e.g. thinking "what if I missed a case in my research, I will be fired and will never find a job again and my life is ruined"). Or leading to analysis paralysis where you are so anxious about making a decision (or turning in a memo) that you obsess over it but don't actually make the decision. Maybe do some research about anxiety and if it sounds like you, reach out to a psychologist (your Law Society likely has resources for counseling services). I'm speaking as someone who also has had very similar experience and not from a place of judgment and therapy has helped me immensely in managing my anxiety. 

Ok, that said, I know it seems like lawyers have high expectations for articling students, and some do, but we also recognize that you just graduated law school and probably have no idea what you are doing (no offence). So when I give an articling student an assignment I don't expect perfection. What I do hope is that it (a) helps me out with the work I am doing and (b) provides the student with a learning opportunity.

So, when you hand something in to a lawyer just know that we know you will make mistakes. Where it becomes a problem is where there are pretty significant errors or if I give you feedback on a task and you don't follow it or repeatedly make the same mistake. I agree with the suggestion above to ask for feedback on your work. When you are a student you are so used to getting a grade for everything you do, it can be hard to know where you stand.

 

[Hegdis]

I will write something longer later today but one of the tricks I used during my articling was keeping a notepad and pen by the bed. Whatever your brain is telling you, write it down. Then in the morning you can look at it and figure out if it’s brilliant, legitimate, or just babbling. Getting it out of your head will help you rest because you have “done something” with whatever your brain is yelling at you. 

Another tip: whatever you are dreading most should be the first thing on your plate the next morning. Do not put it off or procrastinate by doing easier or more comfortable tasks. Attack it at the outset and you will have the most time and focus and ability to seek help if you need it. 

[Aureliuse]

To add a few further points to the excellent submissions above:

1. You will find that some lawyers are hard to please and hard to read. It is not you, it is THEM. There are a few oddballs in every practice area. Some lawyers are unpleasant to work with, you will get to meet some of them when you become a lawyer.

2. If instructions are unclear, or if something new came up during your assignment, ask for clarifications.

3. Get a good night of sleep. It helps reduce anxiety and stress. A more "alert" you will also make less mistakes. 

4. Leave work at work.  Don't let your articling experience taint your perception of the law practice or stress you out outside of work. It is intimidating to learn how much you don't know during articling, but remember, we all started from somewhere. Oral and written advocacy are teachable and learnable skills, same with client management and dispute resolution.

5. Grow thick skin. Lawyers love to gossip. Clients love to gossip. You will hear something unpleasant about you or the work you do at some point. Whether those comments are fair or not, it is part of the law practice experience. Caring too much about what others think of you will not be helpful for your mental health in this field.

 

[Hegdis]

Big help for me was a weekly get together with other students articling in criminal defence. Find people at the same stage doing similar work. Invite them out for a beer or a coffee or a Saturday hike. Make it a regular thing. You need people who are going through the same stuff around you - and the relationships you forge now will stay with you.

[blonderachelzane]

On 9/23/2021 at 1:19 PM, Hegdis said:

I will write something longer later today but one of the tricks I used during my articling was keeping a notepad and pen by the bed. Whatever your brain is telling you, write it down. Then in the morning you can look at it and figure out if it’s brilliant, legitimate, or just babbling. Getting it out of your head will help you rest because you have “done something” with whatever your brain is yelling at you. 

Another tip: whatever you are dreading most should be the first thing on your plate the next morning. Do not put it off or procrastinate by doing easier or more comfortable tasks. Attack it at the outset and you will have the most time and focus and ability to seek help if you need it. 

Thanks so much Hegdis! I started doing this and honestly its helped a lot with my anxiety. A lot of the time it seems to be just babbling haha.

On 9/24/2021 at 11:07 PM, Aureliuse said:

To add a few further points to the excellent submissions above:

1. You will find that some lawyers are hard to please and hard to read. It is not you, it is THEM. There are a few oddballs in every practice area. Some lawyers are unpleasant to work with, you will get to meet some of them when you become a lawyer.

2. If instructions are unclear, or if something new came up during your assignment, ask for clarifications.

3. Get a good night of sleep. It helps reduce anxiety and stress. A more "alert" you will also make less mistakes. 

4. Leave work at work.  Don't let your articling experience taint your perception of the law practice or stress you out outside of work. It is intimidating to learn how much you don't know during articling, but remember, we all started from somewhere. Oral and written advocacy are teachable and learnable skills, same with client management and dispute resolution.

5. Grow thick skin. Lawyers love to gossip. Clients love to gossip. You will hear something unpleasant about you or the work you do at some point. Whether those comments are fair or not, it is part of the law practice experience. Caring too much about what others think of you will not be helpful for your mental health in this field.

 

Very valuable advice! Thank you 🙂

[epeeist]

I don't know if this relates to the dread OP refers to, and my advice is years old, but as we were told when we started articles:

There's almost nothing an articling student can do to permanently screw up a client's interests, so long as if there's a problem, you don't conceal it but tell the lawyer in charge, it can be fixed.