The limited engagement caused by remote working can impact culture and learning
A significant challenge for young lawyers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period has been the inability to engage with senior lawyers to develop their legal chops.
“A lot of lawyers forget how much they learned in their early days just by osmosis from the team around them,” Cornwalls principal and Rising Star Sarah Bullock said. “We have super stars [joining] at the young lawyer level, but onboarding and engagement is far more difficult in a virtual environment. Because you don’t have the human aspect of welcoming someone, you don’t get the same level of engagement. This has a follow-on effect in terms of culture and learning.”
Rising Star Amy Liu, who joined Clayton Utz as a senior associate just before Australia’s lockdown, explained that engagement is crucial to retaining legal talent.
“A consistent effort has to be made by the new joiners and partners to actively engage staff, especially given the difficulty to retain and attract experienced lawyers coupled with the Great Resignation and high turnover of staff in recent times,” she said.
Given the lack of opportunity for informal methods of staff engagement, new lawyers must be willing to create such opportunities for themselves.
“There is a greater need for young and new lawyers to take control of their career and take the initiative in terms of getting work from partners, mentoring opportunities, and career advancement,” Liu explained.
“The law has always been two steps behind the ‘real world’, and with COVID-19 that’s no different. Although COVID-19 hasn’t really changed any long-standing legal principles, it has massively influenced how lawyers and clients go about their day-to-day business,” Bullock said.
Sarah Bullock and Amy Liu are among the 2022 Rising Stars.
