The firm has an active professional development system in place with multiple resources and tools to help associates manage their professional development. Through formal mentoring, assignment review partners, practice group leaders, and other informal mentors, each associate has, in effect, a board of advisors. These advisors will assist associates in getting the work and experience they need to develop and also provide insight into career development.
Continuing education: Legal education is an ongoing process at Neal Gerber Eisenberg. Associates and partners alike participate in a program of continuing education that couples practice-specific training with general sessions in areas such as legal ethics, business development and practice management. Topics are as varied as the interests and needs of program participants: trial training, negotiation training, writing and drafting seminars, innovative “One Day MBA” programs and “Bridging the Generation Gap” workshops taught by preeminent experts.
Formal training programming for first year associates begins with the Basic Skills training mandated by the Illinois Bar. The firm provides this training in-house so that we can tailor the training to the practices and culture of the firm. The Basic Skills Training also provides first years with an opportunity to get to know each other and colleagues throughout the firm. First year associates are also allotted 400 hours for mentoring, shadowing and other professional development activities.
Mentoring: Mentoring is cultivated at every level of the firm to introduce associates to the firm’s unique culture and the way we practice law. Incoming associates are paired with both an associate mentor and a partner mentor. Together, they serve as “go to” people at the firm, available to act as a sounding board, to provide introductions, to give informal feedback and to help strategize about career goals.
Competency based framework: The firm uses a competency based framework made up of practice specific benchmarks and firm-wide core competencies to provide a roadmap for successful professional development. This framework provides clarity to associates and partners about what drives success at Neal Gerber Eisenberg. The core competencies focus on the key drivers for success at the firm, including communication and analytical skills, professional judgment, client service, firm citizenship and investment in the firm. Meanwhile, specific practice group benchmarks specify the technical legal skills to be mastered in each field.
Assignment Review Partners: With the implementation of the competency framework, partners and associates are more cognizant of the need to diversify work assignments and spread work equitably to allow all associates the opportunities for growth. Each practice group has assignment review partners who are responsible for 3-4 associates. The assignment review partners are responsible for reviewing associate workload, and meeting periodically with associates to ensure that developmental needs are being met by the projects and matters assigned. The assignment review partner interacts with the group regarding assignments and keeps the practice group leader apprised of the distribution of work among the associates in the group. This system allows the firm to focus on assignments as a way to develop skills and create opportunities, rather than just distribute hours.
Professional Development Plans: Associates’ mentors, practice group leaders and assignment review partners will also help them through the process of creating and updating personal Professional Development Plans (PDPs). Through this living document, associates are empowered to articulate their professional goals and ambitions and create the steps to achieving these goals. In the early stages of practice, the PDP will likely focus on developing substantive legal knowledge and skills such as strong writing skills. As an associate develops, their PDP will also develop to include practice management skills and developing a professional identity.
Associate Reviews: In formal semiannual reviews, each associate’s performance will be evaluated with a focus on the associate’s growth in each of the core competencies. The PDP is the centerpiece for the associate’s discussions with partners in the review process, providing the critical link between annual review results and tailoring future work assignments and training to maximize growth.
At Neal Gerber Eisenberg we want you to succeed and we will do everything in our power to make it happen. Because in the end, your success is our success.